Fluidics Apparatus and Fluidics Substrate

ABSTRACT

A fluidics apparatus is disclosed for manipulation of at least one fluid sample, typically in the form of a droplet. The apparatus has a substrate surface with a sample manipulation zone for location of the fluid sample. A transducer arrangement such as an interdigitated electrode structure on a piezoelectric body provides surface acoustic waves at the substrate surface for manipulation of the fluid sample. The substrate surface has an arrangement of surface acoustic wave scattering elements forming a phononic crystal structure for affecting the transmission, distribution and/or behaviour of surface acoustic waves at the substrate surface. Also disclosed is a method for lysing a cell. In this method, the cell is comprised in a fluid sample contacting a substrate surface, the method comprising providing surface acoustic waves at the substrate surface, such that the cell lyses.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to fluidics apparatus and substrates forfluidics apparatus, and uses of such apparatus and substrates. Ofparticular, but not necessarily exclusive, interest is fluid samplemanipulation in a microfluidics context. The invention has particular,but not exclusive, application to the manipulation of liquid droplets,for example in biological, biochemical, medical, veterinary and chemicalassays, analysis, diagnosis, and synthesis and production of reagentsand chemicals.

The present invention further relates to methods for lysing cells and tothe use of a fluidics apparatus for lysing cells in a fluid sample.

2. Related Art

Microfluidics devices are well known for handling and analysing smallvolumes of fluids. For example, WO 2005/100953 discloses a system formeasuring viscosity of fluids. Fluids are moved along microfluidicpassageways using a thermal pump.

Alternative approaches to microfluidics liquid handling include the useof surface acoustic wave devices, as described in US 2007/0140041. Inthat document, there is disclosed the problem of mixing twomicrofluidics streams at a manifold, since at microfluidics dimensions,some liquids flow via laminar flow, and the lack of turbulence makesmixing difficult. Accordingly, US 2007/0140041 seeks to improve mixingbetween two fluid flows at a microfluidics manifold using surfaceacoustic waves (SAWs). A SAW transducer is located in contact with themanifold in order to promote mixing of the fluid streams at the manifoldjunction.

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs, the most common being Rayleigh waves) areacoustic waves that can be caused to travel along the surface of amaterial. Surface acoustic waves can be conveniently formed at thesurface of a piezoelectric material by the application of a suitableelectrical signal to an electrode arrangement at the surface of thepiezoelectric material. A suitable electrode arrangement utilizesinterdigitated electrodes, where a first electrode has an arrangement ofparallel electrode fingers having a regular spacing between the fingers.A corresponding second electrode of similar shape has fingers whichprotrude into the gaps between the fingers of the first electrode. Thecombination of the electrode arrangement and the piezoelectric materialforms a transducer.

SAW transducers are known particularly for use in frequency filters intelecommunications devices such as mobile telephones. In such a filter,there is an input transducer and an output transducer. The input signalis applied to the input transducer, to form a series of SAWs whichpropagate to the output transducer. At the output transducer, the SAWsare converted back into an electrical signal. For example, Dogheche etal [E. Dogheche, V. Sadaune, X. Lansiaux, D. Remiens, and T. Gryba“Thick LiNbO₃ layers on diamond-coated silicon for surface acoustic wavefilters” Applied Physics Letters Vol. 81, No. 7 (12 Aug. 2002) p. 1329]disclose the fabrication of piezoelectric films for SAW filters.Typically, such filters are formed using known piezoelectric substratessuch as quartz, LiTaO₃ or LiNbO₃. However, the formation of suitableinterdigitated electrode patterns on the surface of such substrates byconventional photolithography whilst providing a filter operable up tosuitable telecommunications frequencies is difficult. Accordingly,Dogheche et al formed thick (around 1 μm thick) piezoelectric LiNbO₃layers on diamond-coated silicon and demonstrated their operation as SAWfilters at 293 MHz.

It has also been noted that it is possible to provide quasi crystallinestructures in order to manipulate SAWs. It has been shown to be possibleto use a variety of phononic bandgap structures to affect an acousticwavefront generated in a piezoelectric material. For example, Wu el at[Wu, T. T., Z. G. Huang, and S. Y. Liu, “Surface acoustic wave band gapsin micro-machined air/silicon phononic structures—theoreticalcalculation and experiment” Zeitschrift Fur Kristallographie, 2005.220(9-10): p. 841-847] discuss their investigations of the phononic bandgaps in structures formed by micromachining silicon with a squarelattice arrangement of holes. The transducer was formed withinterdigitated electrodes having parallel fingers. Furthermore, Wu et al[Wu, T. T., L. C. Wu, and Z. G. Huang, “Frequency band-gap measurementof two-dimensional air/silicon phononic crystals using layered slantedfinger interdigital transducers” Journal of Applied Physics, 2005.97(9): p. 7] disclose the results of investigations using a similarphononic crystal using electrodes with interdigitated non-parallelfingers in the form of a fan shape. Furthermore, in a purely theoreticalpaper, Kuo and Ye [Kuo, C. H. and Z. Ye, “Sonic crystal lenses that obeythe lensmaker's formula” Journal of Physics D-Applied Physics, 2004.37(15): p. 2155-2159] discuss the properties of structures that could beused to focus acoustic waves.

The term “phononic crystal” is used as an analogy to a “photoniccrystal”. In a photonic crystal, a periodic structure causes reflectionsdue to scattering of incident light, thereby allowing interferencebetween the reflected light and the incident light as it propagatesthrough the “crystal” (which typically is formed of an arrangement ofdielectric materials based on a regular array, such as a Braggreflector), at one or more wavelengths and angles of incidence. Thisinterference manifests itself as a prevention of propagation of thelight through the crystal at a certain wavelength (or range ofwavelengths) and direction. Thus, there is a “band gap” of frequenciesat which light cannot propagate through the photonic crystal. A phononiccrystal, by analogy, has a periodic arrangement of discontinuities orvariations in the mechanical properties of the material or materialsmaking up the phononic crystal. Such a phononic crystal can preventacoustic or mechanical waves of specific wavelength from propagatingthrough the crystal. Since SAWs can be formed at tightly definedfrequencies, the effect of phononic crystals on the propagation of SAWshas been studied by several groups.

Mohammadi et al [Mohammadi, S., et al., “Complete phononic bandgaps andbandgap maps in two-dimensional silicon phononic crystal plates”Electronics Letters, 2007. 43(16): p. 898-899] disclose the formation ofcomplete phononic band gap structures using a square array of holes or ahexagonal array of holes in a silicon plate. In a publication from thesame group, Mohammadi et al [Mohammadi, S., et al., “Evidence of largehigh frequency complete phononic band gaps in silicon phononic crystalplates” Applied Physics Letters, 2008. 92(22): p. 3] discuss theformation of large complete phononic band gaps using a hexagonal arrayof holes through a silicon plate.

Olsson et al [Olsson, R. H., et al., “Microfabricated VHF acousticcrystals and waveguides” Sensors and Actuators a-Physical, 2008. 145: p.87-93] disclose the formation of acoustic bandgaps in a structure formedby including periodic arrays of tungsten scatterers in a silica matrix.Waveguides for the acoustic waves are provided by removing selectedscatterers along a desired path.

Vasseur et al [Vasseur, J. O. et al., 2008. Absolute forbidden bands andwaveguiding in two-dimensional phononic crystal plates. Physical ReviewB (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics), 77(8), 085415-15] set out astudy of phononic bandgaps in a two dimensional phononic crystal plateformed by arrays of cylinders of a first material in a plate of a secondmaterial.

US 2008/0211602 discloses an acoustic wave device with a piezoelectriclayer with transducer electrodes formed over a substrate, there being anomnidirectional acoustic mirror formed between the piezoelectric layerand the substrate.

Other workers have used SAWs in the manipulation of liquids. Forexample, Renaudin et al [A. Renaudin, P. Tabourier, V. Zhang, J. C.Camart and C. Druon “SAW nanopump for handling droplets in view ofbiological applications” Sensors and Actuators B, 113, 2006, p. 389]report on the fabrication and development of a SAW device formicrofluidics for biological applications. SAWs at about 20 MHz aregenerated by interdigitated electrode transducers laid on a LiNbO₃piezoelectric substrate. Droplets are transported along the surface ofthe transducer where hydrophilic micro tracks are provided betweenhydrophobic areas. Furthermore, the same research group [Renaudin, A. etal., 2009. Monitoring SAW-actuated microdroplets in view of biologicalapplications. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 138(1), 374-382] setout a method for determining the position of the droplet using echosignals detected by interdigitated transducers.

Du et al [Du, X. Y. et al., 2009. Microfluidic pumps employing surfaceacoustic waves generated in ZnO thin films. Journal of Applied Physics,105(2), 024508-7] propose using ZnO thin films on Si substrates to formsurface acoustic wave operated microfluidic pumps.

Frommelt et al [Frommelt, T. et al., 2008. Flow patterns and transportin Rayleigh surface acoustic wave streaming: combined finite elementmethod and raytracing numerics versus experiments. Ultrasonics,Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, IEEE Transactions on, 55(10),2298-2305] investigate the patterns of liquid flow and particletransport inside a droplet subjected to surface acoustic waves.

Shi et al [Shi, J. et al., 2008. Focusing microparticles in amicrofluidic channel with standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW). Lab ona Chip, 8(2), 221-223] propose using opposed interdigitated transducersto form an aligned arrangement of beads moving along a channel.

Wu and Chang [Wu, T. & Chang, I., 2005. Actuating and detecting ofmicrodroplet using slanted finger interdigital transducers. Journal ofApplied Physics, 98(2), 024903-7] disclose the movement of droplets on aSAW substrate by control of the signal applied to interdigitatedtransducers having fingers arranged in a slanting configuration.

Tan et al [Tan, M. K., J. R. Friend, and L. Y. Yeo, “Microparticlecollection and concentration via a miniature surface acoustic wavedevice” Lab on a Chip, 2007. 7(5): p. 618-625] disclose the use of SAWsto collect microparticles such as pollen particles in a droplet ofwater. A water droplet is conveyed along a SAW transducer via a fluidictrack.

Concentration of microparticles in droplets by asymmetric application ofsurface acoustic waves has also been described. Techniques described forbreaking the symmetry of a surface acoustic wave involve aligning a dropon the edge of a parallel electrode interdigital transducer [A. Zhang,W. Liu, Z. Jiang and J. Fei, Appl. Acoust., 2009, 70, 1137-1142.],positioning a gel to partially absorb the surface acoustic wavereflection (so that only part of the drop lies in the transmissionpathway) [H. Li, J. R. Friend and L. Y. Yeo, Biomed. Microdev., 2007, 9,647-656], or using a more complex IDT that focuses the surface acousticwave [R Shilton, M. Tan and L. Yeo, and J. Friend, J. Appl. Phys., 2008,104, 014910] using circular transducers with a fixed frequency andexcitation pathway.

Bennes et al [J. Bennes, S Alzuage, F. Chemoux, S. Ballandras, P.Vairac, J-F Manceau and F. Bastien, “Detection and high-precisionpositioning of liquid droplets using SAW systems” IEEE Transactions onUltrasonics Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, 2007, 54(10): p.2146-2151] disclose droplet detection and positioning using SAWs. TheSAW devices used are formed from lithium niobate substrates (LiNbO₃ cut(XY1)/128°). Bennes et al explain that the droplets are moved due to therefraction of incoming SAWs along the substrate surface at theair/liquid interface, producing a resultant force which can have acomponent directed along the substrate surface. The LiNbO₃ substrate istreated to make it hydrophobic—this increases the contact angle with anaqueous droplet and decreases the force required to move the droplet byinteraction with SAWs.

WO 02071051 discloses acoustic ejection of biomolecular samples for massspectrometry.

WO 2007/128045 discloses the use of a SAW transducer to atomize a liquiddroplet from a substrate coupled to a piezoelectric transducer by afluid coupling layer, thereby forming zeolite nanocrystals.

Fluidics systems may be useful in the analysis of biological samples,for example in point-of-care diagnostic applications and portablebiosensors. However, biological samples present a particular challengefor sample manipulation and analysis in fluidics, particularlymicrofluidics. Preparation of biological samples is often complex,involving multiple steps. Notably, for a biological sample containingcells the molecule of interest may be an intracellular molecule, suchthat sample preparation requires a cell disruption step in order torender intracellular molecules accessible for analysis and applicationssuch as immunodiagnostics and pathogen detection.

There are a variety of ways to disrupt cells in order to releaseintracellular molecules for analysis. Cells are enclosed by a lipidbilayer called the plasma membrane (also known as the cell membrane, orcytoplasmic membrane), which defines the boundaries of the cell. Celldisruption by rupture of the plasma membrane is termed cell lysis, andthis can be achieved by a variety of chemical and physical methods.

A typical chemical lysis procedure involves numerous steps, includingthe addition of lytic agents (e.g. enzymes, detergents), washing(usually using centrifugation steps), and elution of the processedsamples for further analysis. Physical lysis procedures include heatingand mechanical methods such as agitation with small particles (e.g.glass beads) and sonication (or ultrasonication). Sonication typicallyinvolves transmitting mechanical energy, via an immersed probe thatoscillates with high frequency, to a solution containing cells insuspension, and resultant cavitation (the creation and collapse ofmicroscopic bubbles) ruptures cells in the sample.

Chemical cell lysis procedures have been integrated into microfluidicsystems [P. Sethu, M. Anahtar, L. L. Moldawer, R. G. Tompkins, and M.Toner, Continuous Flow Microfluidic Device for Rapid Erythrocyte Lysis,Anal. Chem. 2004, 76, 6247-6253; X. Chen, D. F. Cui and C. C. Liu,On-line cell lysis and DNA extraction on a microfluidic biochipfabricated by microelectromechanical system technology, Electrophoresis2008, 29, 1844-1851]. However, these methods require lytic agents, whichmay significantly dilute the molecule of interest and thereby compromisesensitivity of subsequent detection steps. These methods also require acumbersome liquid-driving system to move the liquids around the chip,which is impractical for point-of-care applications. Removal of lyticand/or eluting agents may be required for downstream processing oranalysis of the sample, for example because these agents inhibitreactions (e.g. PCR-based amplification of nucleic acids), or becausethey compromise the molecule of interest.

Techniques have been developed for chemical-free lysis of cells insamples on microfluidic platforms. These include heating [S. Baek, J.Min and J.-H. Park, Wireless induction heating in a microfluidic devicefor cell lysis, Lab on a Chip, 2010, 10, 909-917], applying an electricfield [D. W. Lee, Y.-H. Cho, A continuous electrical cell lysis deviceusing a low dc voltage for a cell transport and rupture, Sensors andActuators B, 2007, 124, 84-89], or using mechanical forces to disruptthe cells by the combined action of magnetic fields [J. Siegrist, R.Gorkin, M. Bastien, G. Stewart, R. Peytavi, H. Kido, M. Bergeron and M.Madou, Validation of a centrifugal microfluidic sample lysis andhomogenization platform for nucleic acid extraction with clinicalsamples, Lab on a Chip, 2010, 10, 363-371], by using filter structures[D. Di Carlo, K.-H. Jeong and L. P. Lee, Reagentless mechanical celllysis by nanoscale barbs in microchannels for sample preparation, Lab ona Chip, 2003, 3, 287-291] or by ultrasonication [M. T. Taylor, P.Belgrader, B. J. Furman, F. Pourahmadi, G. T. A. Kovacs and M. A.Northrup, Lysing Bacterial Spores by Sonication through a FlexibleInterface in a Microfluidic System, Analytical Chemistry 2001, 73,492-496 and M. T. Taylor, Apparatus and method for rapid disruption ofcells or viruses, WO03055976 (Cepheid, Inc.)].

However, heat, electric fields or cavitation may compromise molecules ofinterest. Electrical lysis may be integrated in a microfluidics chipwith other functions [J. Cheng, E. L. Sheldon, L. Wu, A. Uribe, L. O.Gerrue, J. Carrino, M. J. Heller, J. P. O'Connell, Preparation andhybridization analysis of DNA/RNA from E. coli on microfabricatedbioelectronic chips, Nature Biotechnology, 1998, 16, 541-546], but otherphysical lysis methods require the addition of external actuations intothe system to move the fluids around the chip, in a similar fashion aschemical-based lysis platforms. This has been a particular difficultyhindering the development of fully integrated “sample-to-answer”solutions for molecular diagnostics [P. Yager, T. Edwards, E. Fu, KHelton, K. Nelson, M. R. Tam and B. H. Weigl, Microfluidic diagnostictechnologies for global public health, Nature, 2006, 442, 412-418].

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventors have realised that it is possible to manipulatefluid samples using surface acoustic waves in combination withstructures that affect the transmission, distribution and/or behaviourof the surface acoustic waves. This represents one general aspect of thepresent invention.

Accordingly, in a first preferred aspect, the present invention providesa fluidics apparatus for manipulation of at least one fluid sample, theapparatus including a substrate having a substrate surface with a samplemanipulation zone for location of the fluid sample and a transducerarrangement arranged to provide surface acoustic waves at the substratesurface for manipulation of the fluid sample, wherein the substratesurface has an arrangement of surface acoustic wave scattering elementsfor affecting the transmission, distribution and/or behaviour of surfaceacoustic waves at the substrate surface.

In a second preferred aspect, the present invention provides a use of afluidics apparatus to manipulate at least one fluid sample, theapparatus including a substrate having a substrate surface with a samplemanipulation zone in which the fluid sample is located and furtherincluding a transducer arrangement providing surface acoustic waves atthe substrate surface for manipulation of the fluid sample, wherein thesubstrate surface has an arrangement of surface acoustic wave scatteringelements affecting the transmission, distribution and/or behaviour ofsurface acoustic waves at the substrate surface.

In a third preferred aspect, the present invention provides a fluidicssubstrate for manipulation of at least one fluid sample, the substratebeing couplable with a transducer arrangement for providing surfaceacoustic waves at a surface of the substrate for manipulation of thefluid sample, wherein the substrate surface has a sample manipulationzone for location of the fluid sample, wherein the substrate surfacefurther has an arrangement of surface acoustic wave scattering elementsfor affecting the transmission, distribution and/or behaviour of surfaceacoustic waves at the substrate surface.

Preferred or optional features of the invention will now be set out.These may be applied singly or in any combination with any aspect of theinvention, unless the context demands otherwise.

It is considered by the inventors (without wishing to be limited bytheory) that surface acoustic waves tend to at least partially refractinto the fluid sample. This refraction is due to the fluid samplehaving, in general, a different speed of propagation for the SAWscompared with the substrate. This produces streaming in the fluidsample. Accordingly, this is considered to be the origin of samplemovement under the influence of SAWs.

It is preferred that the fluid sample is in the form of a drop, e.g. adroplet such as a microfluidic droplet. However, other arrangements arepossible for the fluid sample, e.g. a channel of fluid, or a fluid heldin a chamber. In the following discussion, the term “droplet” is used,but as discussed above, it is intended that the invention is notnecessarily limited to the manipulation of droplets.

The fluid may comprise a liquid. Furthermore, the fluid may comprise oneor more particles. For example, the fluid may be a liquid containingsolid (or substantially solid) particles. Of particular interest arefluids comprising a suspension of solid particles in a carrier liquid.

The volume of the fluid sample depends on the application of theapparatus. For example, the volume of the fluid sample may be at least 1picolitre. More preferably, the volume of the fluid sample is at least10 picolitre, at least 100 picolitre or at least 500 picolitre. Largervolumes are contemplated, e.g. at least 1 nanolitre, at least 10nanolitre, at least 100 nanolitre or at least 500 nanolitre. Stilllarger volumes are possible in some applications, e.g. at least 1microlitre or at least 10 microlitre. The preferred upper limit for thevolume of the fluid sample is about 5 millilitre, more preferably about1 millilitre, still more preferably about 0.1 millilitre.

Preferably, the surface acoustic wave scattering elements have anarrangement based on a periodic arrangement. The periodic arrangementmay be a one dimensional arrangement or a two dimensional arrangement. Atwo dimensional arrangement is preferred. The periodic nature may be,for example, translational symmetry and/or rotational symmetry. The term“based on” is used here because it is considered that the arrangementneed not be precisely periodic. Furthermore, the arrangement may bedeliberately displaced from a true periodic arrangement in order toprovide a specific effect on the surface acoustic waves. For example,the arrangement may be progressively displaced from a true periodicarrangement with distance from a certain starting point in thearrangement. Furthermore, the arrangement may include one or more areasor lines of defective periodicity in the periodic arrangement. In somecases, the periodicity can be varied amid a single crystal by use ofgradients, over which the pitch and or the size of the elements isvaried. This variation in periodicity can have applications inwaveguiding or lenses (focusing the acoustic power).

Typically, the periodic arrangement is a two-dimensional pattern, inthat the periodicity extends in two dimensions. Suitable periodicpatterns include translationally symmetrical lattice patterns such astetragonal, square, trigonal, hexagonal, etc. Other suitable periodicpatterns include rotationally symmetrical patterns, e.g. having arotational symmetry of less than 360 degrees.

The surface acoustic wave scattering elements may be arranged in ascattering zone at the substrate surface. The scattering zone mayoverlap with the sample manipulation zone. However, preferably thescattering zone does not overlap with the sample manipulation zone. Itis possible for the scattering zone to be adjacent the samplemanipulation zone, in order to affect the surface acoustic wavedistribution in the sample manipulation zone. The scattering zone may beformed at one or more borders of the substrate surface. In this case,there may be one or more scattering elements located in the samplemanipulation zone.

Preferably, the scattering zone provides in use a differenttransmission, distribution and/or behaviour of surface acoustic wavescompared with the sample manipulation zone.

The arrangement of the surface acoustic wave scattering elementspreferably provides, in effect, a phononic crystal structure thatinteracts with or affects the acoustic field, e.g. in the samplemanipulation zone.

Preferably, the manipulation of the droplet includes movement of thedroplet along the sample manipulation zone. The sample manipulation zonemay define a track for droplet movement. Additionally or alternatively,the manipulation of the droplet includes atomisation of the droplet fromthe sample manipulation zone.

When two or more droplets are manipulated using the apparatus, it ispossible for the droplets to have different characteristics, e.g.different composition, different temperature, different viscosity,different entrained species (e.g. biological material, particles,solute, etc.). In this case, the manipulation of the droplets mayinclude mixing of the droplets. Mixing may be achieved by moving thedroplets along corresponding tracks to a mixing zone, where the dropletsmeet and are mixed to form one or more mixed droplets. The mixed dropletmay then be moved onwardly from the mixing zone along a further track.

The operation of the apparatus may allow splitting of a droplet into twoor more daughter droplets. Each daughter droplet may be conveyedonwardly along respective tracks or along the same track.

The operation of the apparatus may furthermore allow concentration of aspecies in one or more droplets. This can be achieved, for example, byallowing the SAWs to interact with the droplet to heat the droplet,thereby accelerating the evaporation of solvent. Alternatively, theacoustic field may be controlled by an appropriate arrangement ofscattering elements and suitable control of the driving signal to thetransducers to drive the species preferentially towards one part of thedroplet. For example, an acoustic cavity can be set up in order toprovide a standing wave arrangement, which has been shown to provideparticle concentration [Shi, J. et al., 2008. Focusing microparticles ina microfluidic channel with standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW). Labon a Chip, 8(2), 221-223]. Heating without deliberately promotingevaporation is of interest in its own right, e.g. for PCR (polymerasechain reaction) applications for DNA or RNA.

The operation of the apparatus may also allow concentration of a speciesin one or more droplets by inducing streaming within the droplet, whichstreaming concentrates species at a location within the droplet. In thecontext of the present invention, this type of concentration may bereferred to as “centrifugation” (even though it may not represent truecentrifugation) since it produces a “pellet”-like deposit of specieswithin the “supernatant” of the liquid droplet, and can separateparticles in the fluid sample from the fluid phase. This concentrationcan be achieved by providing SAWs to the droplet to induce rotationalstreaming in the droplet, for example by providing SAWs to the dropletasymmetrically (i.e. such that the distribution of SAWs is asymmetricwith respect to the centre of the droplet footprint). Preferably, thesubstrate surface includes an arrangement of surface acoustic wavescattering elements arranged to scatter surface acoustic waves providedat the substrate surface into a configuration for inducing rotationalstreaming in the droplet. The droplet may be positioned on the substratesurface at a position relative to the surface acoustic wave scatteringelements such that surface acoustic waves are partially scattered by thescattering elements and the droplet receives SAWs distributedasymmetrically with respect to the centre of the droplet footprint.

The sample manipulation zone may include at least one droplet sensor.The droplet sensor may be operable to detect the presence of a droplet.One or more droplet sensors may be arranged sequentially in order todetect the presence of a droplet along a track. In this way, theapparatus may be operable to detect the movement of a droplet along atrack. Droplet sensing can be carried out, for example, using echolocation as discussed by Renaudin et al [Renaudin, A. et al., 2009.Monitoring SAW-actuated microdroplets in view of biologicalapplications. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 138(1), 374-382].Alternatively, droplet sensing can be carried out using imaging meanssuch as a camera.

The substrate may have more than one sample manipulation zone. A seriesof sample manipulation zones may be provided, in communication with eachother, the droplet being transferred from one sample manipulation zoneto the next. As an example, a first sample manipulation zone may providedroplet movement from a first location to a second location. A secondsample manipulation zone may provide a mixing stage where the droplet,received from the first sample manipulation zone, is mixed (e.g. withanother droplet or simply mixed to mix its own contents), and mayprovide onwards movement of the mixed droplet. A third samplemanipulation zone may provide an atomisation stage where the mixeddroplet, received from the second sample manipulation zone, is atomised.This atomisation stage may be for analysis of the droplet, e.g. using amass spectrometer. In this case, suitable arrangements of scatteringelements are provided for each zone, to affect the acoustic field ineach zone in a suitable way to promote the required functionality ofeach zone.

It is possible for the transducer to be provided by any means whichallows the formation of surface acoustic waves. For example, suitablearrangements of optical, electrical or electromagnetic means arecontemplated. In one embodiment, a laser can be controlled to providefast, localised heating of the substrate, resulting in the formation ofcorresponding mechanical waves.

Preferably, the transducer comprises a layer of piezoelectric material.For example, the layer of piezoelectric material may be a sheet (e.g. aself-supporting sheet) of piezoelectric material. The layer ofpiezoelectric material may be a single crystal, such as a single crystalwafer. A suitable material is LiNbO₃. A preferred orientation for thecut for this material is Y-cut rot. 128°. This has a higherelectromechanical coupling coefficient than other orientations. Otherferroelectric materials may be used, e.g. PZT, BaTiO₃, SbTiO₃ or ZnO. Ofthese, ZnO is attractive because it easily integrated with silicon. Thepiezoelectric layer may be formed by any suitable fabrication technique.For example, the piezoelectric layer may be deposited by printing.

The transducer preferably further comprises at least one arrangement ofelectrodes. For example, the electrodes may be interdigitated. Morepreferably, the transducer comprises two or more arrangements ofelectrodes. These may be disposed in order to provide the specificmanipulation desired for the microfluidics droplets, although thearrangement of scattering elements significantly affects thedistribution of the acoustic field at the substrate surface. Suitablearrangements are discussed below. In some embodiments, it is preferredthat the transducer is tunable, such that the lateral position of theSAWs emission train is movable. For example, the slanted interdigitatedarrangement of electrodes suggested by Wu and Chang [Wu, T. & Chang, I.,2005. Actuating and detecting of microdroplet using slanted fingerinterdigital transducers. Journal of Applied Physics, 98(2), 024903-7]can be used for the transducer. Slanted interdigitated arrangements ofelectrodes suitable for use in the present invention are described inmore detail below.

It is possible for the sample manipulation zone to be formed at asurface of the transducer, i.e. that the droplet is manipulated on thesurface of the, e.g., piezoelectric chip. However, more preferably, thesubstrate is separable from the transducer, e.g. as a separate entitythat is removably locatable at the transducer. For example, thesubstrate may be in the form of a sheet having a first major surface anda second major surface, preferably formed substantially parallel witheach other. The first major surface may provide the sample manipulationzone and the border zone. The second major surface may provide acoupling surface, for coupling with the transducer in operation.Coupling may be achieved using a coupling medium, preferably a fluid orgel coupling medium. The coupling medium may be an aqueous couplingmedium, e.g. water. Alternatively, the coupling medium may be an organiccoupling medium, such as an oil-based coupling medium or glycerol. Thecoupling medium provides intimate contact between the substrate and thetransducer and allows the efficient transfer of acoustic energy to thesubstrate from the transducer.

The advantage of providing the substrate as a separate entity from thetransducer is very significant. Typical SAW transducers are complex tomanufacture. For this reason, they are typically expensive. Suitablemicrofluidic manipulations to be carried out using the transducer may beof the type that will contaminate the transducer if carried out on thetransducer surface. Such contamination may be difficult or impossible toremove. Alternatively, removal may not be cost-effective, or may damagethe transducer. However, it is strongly preferred that the transducercan be re-used. Accordingly, it is preferred that the microfluidicdroplet does not contact the transducer but instead contacts thesubstrate coupled to the transducer. The substrate itself may bedisposable (e.g. disposed of after a single use). One or more suitablesample manipulation zones and one or more border zones may be formed ina substrate by various methods, such as microfabrication, embossing,moulding, spraying, lithographic techniques (e.g. photolithography),etc. The inventors have found, surprisingly, that coupling of SAWs tothe substrate from the transducer can be efficient and the SAWs can becontrolled at the substrate surface using the interaction between thesample manipulation zones and the scattering zones.

Preferably, the first surface of the substrate is substantially planar,excluding the scattering elements. The second surface of the substrateneed not be planar, and in some circumstances may be formed with atopography that provides additional engineering of the SAWs. Forexample, the second surface may include curved, projecting or recessedregions in order to direct the SAWs.

Preferably, suitable droplets for manipulation using the presentinvention have a volume in the range 0.1-10 μL. More preferably,suitable droplets of volume 1-5 μL are used.

Preferably, where the droplet is to be moved along the samplemanipulation zone, the sample manipulation zone is in the form of atrack, defining the intended path for the droplet. The track may bestraight, curved, bent, angled, forked, split or joined with anothertrack. It is preferred that the scattering zone is immediately adjacentthe track.

The track may be provided with a hydrophilic surface, typically borderedby one or more hydrophobic areas. In the case of an aqueous sample, thiscan assist with confining the droplet to the track.

In some embodiments, the dimensions of the track and the relativelocation of the arrangement of scattering elements causes the track tosupport only the fundamental mode of the surface acoustic waves at aparticular wavelength. However, this would typically lead to the use ofvery small droplets, at least where the SAW wavelength is small (i.e.high frequency). Accordingly, in some preferred embodiments, thearrangement of scattering elements is further away from the track thanwould be required in order to support only the fundamental mode of thesurface acoustic waves at a particular wavelength.

The surface acoustic wave scattering elements may be elements thatprovide an interface capable of significant scattering of surfaceacoustic waves. Preferably, at the interface, there is a sharp change inelastic modulus (e.g. Young's modulus) of the medium of the substrate.This can be achieved by forming each scattering element from a differentmaterial compared with the material of the substrate, the differentmaterial typically having a different density compared with the materialof the substrate. For example, one or more of the scattering elementsmay be formed by a void at the substrate surface. The void may begas-filled, e.g. air-filled. Alternatively, the void may be filled witha different solid or liquid material compared with the material of theremainder of the substrate. Filling the void with a contrasting (e.g.mechanically, structurally or functionally contrasting) solid materialis desirable, because it allows the substrate to be formed with a smoothsurface, therefore allowing the droplet to move across the arrangementof scattering elements if required. The contrast in mechanicalproperties between the substrate and the scattering elements may bechanged in use, e.g. by the application of an external stimulus such asheat.

The scattering elements preferably intersect the surface of thesubstrate. This is preferred since they are for scattering surfaceacoustic waves, which are predominantly surface phenomena. However, thescattering elements may extend to a non-zero depth in the substrate. Forexample, they may extend at least 5% into the thickness of thesubstrate. They may extend further than this, e.g. at least 10%, atleast 20% or more into the thickness of the substrate. In somecircumstances, the scattering elements may extend through the entirethickness of the substrate, although a depth of about half of thethickness of the substrate is advantageous. The scattering elements maybe pits in the substrate. Alternatively, the scattering elements may bepillars upstanding from the substrate surface.

Typically, the scattering elements are cylindrical (e.g. circular oroval cylindrical) in shape, or they may be prismatic or polygonal inshape. Alternatively, the scattering elements may be ridges or groovesin the substrate. Such shapes may have a straight form, but mayalternatively have a curved or angled form.

Preferably, the substrate is in monolithic form. Thus, preferably, thescattering elements are formed in the substrate by addition or (morepreferably) removal of substrate material from the substrate at thelocations of the scattering elements. This may be done, for example, byembossing or etching, powder processing techniques (known in the fieldof metallurgy), machining (e.g. drilling). Alternatively, the scatteringelements may be formed at the time of formation of the substrate, e.g.by moulding the substrate to the desired shape, including the scatteringelements.

The scattering elements are placed with respect to the samplemanipulation zone, and also with respect to the transducer, in orderthat there is a different transmission, distribution and/or behaviour ofsurface acoustic waves in the border region compared with the samplemanipulation zone. For example, it is possible for the arrangement ofscattering elements to be such that an incident surface acoustic wavehaving a predetermined wavelength at a predetermined angle of incidence,is transmitted through the border zone at a significantly loweramplitude than through the sample manipulation zone. At the limit ofthis effect, the incident surface acoustic wave may be substantiallyprevented from being transmitted through the border zone. In this case,the border zone acts as a phononic band gap structure to the incidentSAWs. Furthermore, the effect of this is to concentrate the SAWs in thesample manipulation zone. This can provide very useful effects on thedroplet in the sample manipulation zone.

The scattering elements may have an element-to-element nearest neighbourspacing of at least 10 μm. This is suitable for SAWs in the MHz region(e.g. of frequency of around 100 MHz). More preferably, this spacing isat least 20 μm, at least 40 μm, at least 60 μm, at least 80 μm, or atleast 100 μm. This spacing may be at most 5 mm (corresponding torelatively low frequency SAWs), more preferably at most 4 mm, morepreferably at most 3 mm, more preferably at most 2 mm, more preferablyat most 1 mm, more preferably at most 0.9 mm, at most 0.8 mm, at most0.7 mm, at most 0.6 mm. For example, an element-to-element nearestneighbour spacing in the range 200-500 μm has been shown to be suitable.For higher frequencies, e.g. in the GHz range, smaller spacings arecontemplated, e.g. in the range down to at least 1 μm.

The scattering elements may provide various effects on the SAWs. Inaddition to the concentration effect mentioned above, the scatteringelements may reflect (or partially reflect) the SAWs, and/or maydiffract (or partially diffract) the SAWs, and/or may refract (orpartially refract) the SAWs. Additionally or alternatively, there may beset up standing interference patterns of SAWs at the substrate surface.

Preferably, the apparatus includes a signal source for driving thetransducer. The signal applied to the transducer affects the SAWs thatare produced.

The transducer may have more than one set of electrodes, beingindependently controllable. In this case, the signal applied to each setof electrodes may be varied, in order to provide different manipulationof the droplet. For example, locating sets of electrodes so that SAWsare provided along different directions at the substrate surface mayallow vector control of the movement of the droplet.

The substrate may be treated in order to provide it with a hydrophobicsurface. For example, a contact angle between a water droplet and a flatregion of the substrate surface may be not less than 65 degrees.

The present inventors have found that it is possible to lyse cells usingsurface acoustic waves. This represents another general aspect of theinvention.

Accordingly, in a fourth preferred aspect, there is provided a methodfor lysing a cell, wherein the cell is comprised in a fluid samplecontacting a substrate surface, the method comprising providing surfaceacoustic waves at the substrate surface, such that the cell lyses.

In a fifth preferred aspect, there is provided a use of a fluidicsapparatus for lysing a cell in a fluid sample, wherein the fluidicsapparatus includes a substrate having a substrate surface for contactinga fluid sample and a transducer arrangement arranged to provide surfaceacoustic waves at the substrate surface, and wherein said use comprisesproviding a surface acoustic wave at the substrate surface, such that acell in a fluid sample contacting the substrate surface lyses.

Preferred or optional features of the fourth and fifth preferred aspectsof the invention will now be set out. These may be applied singly or inany combination with any aspect of the invention, and/or with anypreferred or optional feature of the first, second or third preferredaspects of the invention, as set out above, unless the context demandsotherwise.

It is considered by the inventors (without wishing to be limited bytheory) that surface acoustic waves tend to at least partially refractinto the fluid sample. This refraction is due to the fluid samplehaving, in general, a different speed of propagation for the SAWscompared with the substrate. This produces streaming in the fluidsample. It is considered that applying SAWs to a substrate surfacecontacting a fluid sample can create a specific structure of pressurewaves and shear stresses in the sample. These pressure waves and shearstresses can mechanically disrupt cells contained in the sample toeffect cell lysis. It is considered that, in the preferred embodimentsof the present invention, SAW-mediated cell lysis can achieveefficiencies above 95%, which is very favourable compared with knownchemical and mechanical methods of cell lysis.

It is preferred that the fluid sample is a liquid sample containingcells. Furthermore, it is preferred that the fluid sample is an aqueousliquid sample containing cells. In a preferred embodiment, the fluidsample consists of or comprises blood, and therefore contains bloodcells.

It is preferred that the fluid sample is in the form of a drop, e.g. adroplet such as a microfluidic droplet. However, other arrangements arepossible for the fluid sample, e.g. a channel of fluid, or a fluid heldin a chamber. In the following discussion, the term “droplet” is used,but as discussed above, it is intended that the invention is notnecessarily limited to the lysis of cells in droplets.

The volume of the droplet may be at least 1 picolitre. For example thevolume of the droplet may be at least 10 picolitre, at least 100picolitre or at least 500 picolitre. The volume of the droplet may behigher, e.g. at least 1 nanolitre, at least 10 nanolitre, at least 100nanolitre or at least 500 nanolitre. Preferably the droplet is larger,e.g. at least 1 microlitre, at least 2 microlitre, at 5 microlitre, atleast 10 microlitre, at least 15 microlitre, at least 20 microlitre, atleast 25 microlitre or at least 50 microlitre. The preferred upper limitfor the volume of the droplet is about 5 millilitre, more preferablyabout 1 millilitre, still more preferably about 0.1 millilitre.

Preferably, suitable droplets for cell lysis using the present inventionhave a volume in the range 0.1-100 microlitre, or 1-50 microlitre. Morepreferably, suitable droplets of volume 5-25 microlitre are used.

The volume of the droplet may be adjusted according to the area ofcontact between the droplet and the substrate surface. For example, thevolume of the droplet may be adjusted to vary the contact angle (e.g. inthe case where the droplet is confined to a particular fluid samplearea—see below). Preferably, the contact angle (i.e. the included anglebetween the substrate surface and the tangent to the droplet surface atthe substrate, measured in a plane containing the normal to thesubstrate surface) is not less than 65 degrees, not less than 75degrees, not less than 85 degrees, or not less than 95 degrees.Preferably the contact angle is 65-115 degrees, or more preferably95-115 degrees.

The substrate surface may be provided with a fluid sample area in theform of a fluid sample pinning zone. Preferably the fluid sample pinningzone is provided in the form of a spot, for pinning a fluid sampledroplet to the substrate surface. Thus, the perimeter of the fluidsample pinning zone may delineate a fluid sample pinning line.Preferably, the fluid sample pinning zone is a hydrophilic area, forpinning an aqueous fluid sample to the substrate surface. Morepreferably, the fluid sample pinning zone is a hydrophilic area in theform of a spot, for pinning an aqueous droplet to the substrate surface.The hydrophilic area may be formed from e.g. lithium niobate (LiNbO₃),silicon (Si wafer), zinc oxide (ZnO), silicon oxide (SIO₂), glass, orplastics (polymers or copolymers, e.g. with a polyethylene glycolmoiety, PEG). These may be further modified using a specific chemicalprocess such as a silanisation (e.g. with aminopropyltriethoxysilane),poly-L-lysine, or PEG or a combination of processes. The hydrophilicarea may be surrounded by a hydrophobic zone, which may be formed frome.g. silane such as 1H,1H,2H,2H-Perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane,octadecyltricholrosilane, or a Teflon-like coating (C4F8 deposition).The fluid sample pinning zone can also be formed by physical structures,for example the pinning zone may be formed as a well in the substratesurface. The pinning zone may be formed by a wall or walls that definethe perimeter of the pinning zone, which wall or walls may be formedfrom pillars, or from scattering elements (i.e. elements that contributeto a phononic property of the substrate surface) for example pillarsthat act as scattering elements. The fluid sample pinning zone is notessential for cell lysis, but it may prevent the droplet from movingwhen surface acoustic waves hit it at high powers and may facilitateadjustment of the area of contact between the fluid sample and thesubstrate surface in order to vary the contact angle.

The fluid sample pinning zone preferably has a width or diameter of (orhas a width or diameter in the range of up to) about 1 millimeter, about2 millimeters, about 3 millimeters, about 4 millimeters, or about 5millimeters.

The size (e.g. width, maximum allowed width, or diameter) and/or shapeof the fluid sample pinning zone may be varied in order to vary thecontact angle and surface tension properties at the fluid sample pinningline for a particular fluid sample volume, and thereby influence thepropagation of the pressure wave from the incident SAW through thesample, such that a cell in the fluid sample is lysed.

The concentration of cells in the fluid sample may be adjusted in orderto optimise cell lysis. Preferably the concentration is about 5 millioncells/millilitre or less, about 3 million cells/millilitre or less,about 1 million cells/millilitre or less, about 500,000 cells/millilitreor less, or about 100,000 cells/millilitre or less.

The fluid sample may consist of or comprise a biological sample such asblood, saliva or urine. For example, the fluid sample may be wholeblood. Preferably, the fluid sample is diluted blood, for example wholeblood diluted in PBS. The dilution of the sample expressed assample:diluent may be about 1:10 or greater (dilution factor 0.1 orlower), about 1:25 or greater (dilution factor 0.05 or lower), 1:50 orgreater (dilution factor 0.02 or lower), or 1:100 or greater (dilutionfactor 0.01 or lower).

The present inventors have shown that the necessary conditions for celllysis can be achieved using a variety of different SAW platforms andconfigurations. The present invention thus provides multiple routes tointegrate preparation of biological samples in a complete assay on amicrochip.

Without wishing to be bound by theory, the present inventors believethat, e.g. by focussing the acoustic power of SAWs at a position withina fluid sample containing cells, it is possible to create acousticpressure fields and streaming within the sample that lyse the cells.

Preferably, surface acoustic waves are provided to the substrate surfacecontacting a droplet such that rotational streaming is induced in thefluid sample droplet. Without wishing to be bound by theory, the presentinventors believe that rotational streaming results in the creation ofone or more vortexes in the sample, and, under appropriate conditions,the pressures and shear stresses near the centre of a vortex aresufficient to lyse cells.

Rotational streaming may be induced in the droplet by providing the SAWsto the droplet in an asymmetrical manner in relation to the droplet,that is, providing the SAWs such that it hits the dropletasymmetrically. By causing an asymmetry in the SAWs with respect to thedroplet, angular momentum and hence rotation is induced in the droplet.The term “asymmetrical” here refers to the distribution of the SAWs withrespect to the droplet. One example of a suitable asymmetricdistribution is provided where the SAW path incompletely overlaps withthe footprint of the droplet on the substrate surface, as describedbelow.

The term SAW “beam” is used herein to define the emission train, orpath, of surface acoustic waves provided at a substrate surface. Theterms SAW beam, SAW emission train and SAW path are used hereininterchangeably. The width of the SAW beam is notionally defined by theaperture of the transducer that emits the SAW beam. The aperture of atransducer is the part of the transducer that resonates to emit a SAWbeam. In the context of the present invention, the lateral width of anaperture of a transducer is taken to define the lateral width of the SAWbeam. For a parallel electrode interdigitated transducer, the apertureis typically the lateral expanse of the region of overlap between theelectrode fingers (see w, FIG. 6). In this context, the edge of the SAWbeam is laterally aligned with the edge of the IDT aperture along thedirection of propagation of the SAWS. Whilst it is understood that inreality the edge of a SAW beam is not necessarily sharp, as explainedbelow, for the purposes of the present invention, an edge of a SAW beamis defined as a notional longitudinal edge in lateral alignment with anedge of a transducer aperture. It is understood that the amplitude ofthe SAWs decreases with lateral distance from the edge of the SAW beam.

For a droplet contacting a substrate surface to form a droplet footprinton the substrate surface, rotational streaming may be induced in thedroplet by providing a surface acoustic wave at the substrate surfacesuch that the surface acoustic wave path only partially overlaps withthe droplet footprint (at least in terms of the position of the notionaledge of the SAW path with respect to the droplet). A droplet may have anapproximately circular footprint, for example, and the surface acousticwave path may overlap with a segment of the footprint. A surfaceacoustic wave path may overlap with about 10-90% of the dropletfootprint. A surface acoustic wave may be provided at the substratesurface such that the surface acoustic wave path overlaps with about 50%of the droplet footprint, wherein the edge of the surface acoustic wavepath passes near the centre of the droplet.

In a first preferred embodiment of the fourth and fifth aspects of thepresent invention, a surface acoustic wave is provided at the substratesurface by a transducer arrangement (e.g. a parallel electrodeinterdigital transducer) and the droplet is positioned on the substratesurface at a position relative to the transducer arrangement such thatthe droplet receives SAWs distributed asymmetrically with respect to thecentre of the droplet. For example, the droplet may be longitudinallydisplaced from but laterally aligned with respect to an edge of anaperture of an interdigital transducer (IDT) arrangement, wherein saidedge of the aperture defines an edge of a SAWs emission train, such thatthe droplet is only partly located on the SAWs emission train providedby the IDT arrangement.

In a second preferred embodiment of the fourth and fifth aspects of thepresent invention, a surface acoustic wave is provided at the substratesurface by a transducer arrangement for which it is possible to controlthe lateral position of the SAWs emission train with respect to thetransducer arrangement, for example by tuning the input frequency. Inthis embodiment, the droplet is placed on the substrate surface and thelateral position of the SAWs emission train is tuned to a position onthe substrate surface such that the droplet receives SAWs distributedasymmetrically with respect to the centre of the droplet. The transducerarrangement may be a slanted IDT (also known as a slanted finger IDT)for which the lateral position of the SAWs emission train can beadjusted by varying the input frequency. An advantage of this embodimentis that it does not require precise positioning of the droplet on thesubstrate surface, since the lateral position of the SAWs emission trainon the substrate surface can be adjusted relative to that of thedroplet. In the case of a slanted IDT, it is more difficult to define anotional edge of the SAWs emission train, since the amplitude of theSAWs across the emission train may decrease relatively graduallylaterally from a central maximum of the emission train. In this case,the notional edge of the SAWs emission train can be considered to be thelateral position at full width half maximum of the SAWs amplitudedistribution in the lateral direction.

In a third preferred embodiment of the fourth and fifth aspects of thepresent invention, the substrate surface includes an arrangement ofsurface acoustic wave scattering elements arranged to scatter surfaceacoustic waves provided at the substrate surface into a configurationfor inducing rotational streaming in the fluid sample. The scatteringelements may affect the transmission, distribution or behaviour ofsurface acoustic waves at the substrate surface. In this embodiment, thedroplet may be positioned on the substrate surface at a positionrelative to the surface acoustic wave scattering elements such thatsurface acoustic waves are partially scattered by the scatteringelements and the droplet receives SAWs distributed asymmetrically withrespect to the centre of the droplet.

It is not necessarily essential that the surface acoustic wave inducesrotational streaming in order for cell lysis to be achieved. Thepressure fields necessary for cell lysis may be induced using a widerange of surface acoustic wave geometries, encompassing standing wavesas well. The inventors believe that it is possible to use surfaceacoustic waves to lyse cells within a droplet, without necessarilycreating rotational streaming or a vortex within the droplet, byfocusing acoustic power at a position within the droplet.

Furthermore, it is not necessarily essential that the surface acousticwave is provided to the droplet asymmetrically in order for rotationalstreaming to be achieved. Cell lysis can be achieved when multiplevortexes are formed in configurations where the SAW hits the droplet ina more symmetrical manner. For example, it is possible to design afluidics apparatus to achieve reproducible multiple vortexes in fluidsample droplets, for example by including arrangements of scatteringelements or phononic structures (also known as phononic lattices orphononic crystals) on the substrate surface.

In accordance with the present invention, the substrate may be providedwith a transducer arrangement.

It is possible for the transducer to be provided by any means whichallows the formation of surface acoustic waves. For example, suitablearrangements of optical, electrical or electromagnetic means arecontemplated. In one embodiment, a laser can be controlled to providefast, localised heating of the substrate, resulting in the formation ofcorresponding mechanical waves.

Preferably, the transducer comprises a layer of piezoelectric material.For example, the layer of piezoelectric material may be a sheet (e.g. aself-supporting sheet) of piezoelectric material. The layer ofpiezoelectric material may be a single crystal, such as a single crystalwafer. A suitable material is LiNbO₃. A preferred orientation for thecut for this material is Y-cut rot. 128°. This has a higherelectromechanical coupling coefficient than other orientations. Otherferroelectric materials may be used, e.g. PZT, BaTiO₃, SbTiO₃ or ZnO. Ofthese, ZnO is attractive because it easily integrated with silicon. Thepiezoelectric layer may be formed by any suitable fabrication technique.For example, the piezoelectric layer may be deposited by printing.

The transducer preferably further comprises at least one arrangement ofelectrodes. For example, the electrodes may be interdigitated. Thetransducer may comprise two or more arrangements of electrodes. Thesemay be disposed in order to provide specific manipulation desired ofmicrofluidic droplets. Suitable arrangements are discussed below.Preferably the transducer is tunable, such that the lateral position ofthe SAWs emission train is movable. In certain preferred embodiments,the arrangement of electrodes is the slanted interdigitated arrangementof electrodes suggested by Wu and Chang [Wu, T. & Chang, I., 2005.Actuating and detecting of microdroplet using slanted fingerinterdigital transducers. Journal of Applied Physics, 98(2), 024903-7].Slanted interdigitated arrangements of electrodes for use in the presentinvention are described in more detail below.

It is possible for the substrate surface to be formed at a surface ofthe transducer, i.e. the droplet is manipulated on the surface of the,e.g., piezoelectric chip. However, more preferably, the substrate isseparable from the transducer, e.g. as a separate entity that isremovably locatable at the transducer. For example, the substrate may bein the form of a sheet having a first major surface and a second majorsurface, preferably formed substantially parallel with each other. Thefirst major surface may provide a substrate surface for contacting thefluid sample. The second major surface may provide a coupling surface,for coupling with the transducer in operation. Coupling may be achievedusing a coupling medium, preferably a fluid or gel coupling medium. Thecoupling medium may be an aqueous coupling medium, e.g. water.Alternatively, the coupling medium may be an organic coupling medium,such as an oil-based coupling medium or glycerol. The coupling mediumprovides intimate contact between the substrate and the transducer andallows the efficient transfer of acoustic energy to the substrate fromthe transducer.

The advantage of providing the substrate as a separate entity from thetransducer is very significant. Typical SAW transducers are complex tomanufacture. For this reason, they are typically expensive. Suitablemicrofluidic manipulations to be carried out using the transducer may beof the type that will contaminate the transducer if carried out on thetransducer surface. Such contamination may be difficult or impossible toremove. Alternatively, removal may not be cost-effective, or may damagethe transducer. However, it is strongly preferred that the transducercan be re-used. Accordingly, it is preferred that the microfluidicdroplet does not contact the transducer but instead contacts thesubstrate coupled to the transducer. The substrate itself may bedisposable (e.g. disposed of after a single use). The inventors havefound, surprisingly, that coupling of SAWs to the substrate from thetransducer can be efficient and the SAWs can be controlled at thesubstrate surface, for example using scattering elements (e.g. phononiccrystals, also known as phononic lattices) or by using a tunableelectrode arrangement (.e.g. slanted finger IDT).

Disposable substrates are especially useful for the analysis ofbiological samples. Disposable substrates may reduce sample crosscontamination in point-of-care diagnostic applications, and may reducecontamination of samples with species that may compromise the moleculeof interest (e.g. RNAse, where messenger RNA is the molecule ofinterest).

For the purposes of the present invention, the input power of thesurface acoustic wave may between −19 dBm and 0 dBM, between around −14dBm and around −6 dBmb around −14 dBm or higher, around −12 dBm orhigher, around −10 dBm or higher, around −9 dBm or higher, around −8dBm, around −7 dBm, or around −6 dBm or higher.

For the devices described herein in relation to embodiments of thepresent invention, the related power arriving at the IDT can be obtainedusing the table below. The power arriving at the IDT is calculated byconverting the input power value, expressed in dBM, to a value expressedin W and multiplying the W value by 5000 (the amplification by theamplifier).

dBm W 0 5 −1 3.971641 −2 3.154787 −3 2.505936 −4 1.990536 −5 1.581139 −61.255943 −7 0.997631 −8 0.792447 −9 0.629463 −10 0.5 −11 0.397164 −120.315479 −13 0.250594 −14 0.199054 −15 0.158114 −16 0.125594 −170.099763 −18 0.079245 −19 0.062946

The present inventors found that for a particular cell type at aparticular concentration, if a relatively low power is used then cellsare concentrated in the centre of the droplet without lysing, and if arelatively high power is used then cell lysis is achieved. Withoutwishing to be bound by theory, the present inventors believe that suchan increase in power increases the pressures and shear stresses in thedroplet such that cells in the droplet are crushed and lyse.Accordingly, a method of lysing cells according to the present inventionmay comprise providing SAWs to a droplet containing cells, andprogressively increasing the input power, and thereby progressivelyincreasing the power of the SAWs, until cell lysis is achieved. Thisway, for a given set of conditions, cells can be lysed using the minimumpower necessary to achieve cell lysis under those conditions. Forexample, cells of a particular type can be lysed using the minimum powernecessary to achieve cell lysis for that cell type.

The frequency of the surface acoustic wave may be in the range of about10 kHz to about 1 GHz, preferably about 1 MHz to about 100 MHz, morepreferably about 5 MHz to about 50 MHz, more preferably about 5 MHz toabout 20 MHz, more preferably about 15 MHz to about 5 MHz, morepreferably between about 13 MHz and about 9 MHz. The frequency of thesurface acoustic wave may be about 12 MHz, about 11 MHz, about 10 MHz,or about 9 MHz.

For the purposes of the present invention, the SAW may be provided atthe substrate surface for about 0.1 seconds or longer. The SAW may beprovided for about 0.1-60 seconds. Preferably, the SAW is provided forabout 1 second or less, about 2 seconds or less, or about 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, or 35 seconds or less.

The present inventors found that cell lysis efficiency is affected byseveral factors, including the surface tension of the droplet, thecontact angle of the droplet on the substrate surface, the concentrationof cells in the droplet, power of the SAW and the amount of time forwhich the SAW is provided to the droplet. The optimum combination ofvalues for each factor may depend on cell type. The skilled person, byadjusting these variables in combination or in isolation, based on theteaching provided herein, is able to provide conditions in which celllysis can be achieved.

The term cell is used herein to refer to any type of cell, includingeukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. In the context of the presentinvention, a cell is preferably a eukaryotic cell. A cell may be ananimal cell, for example a mammalian cell (e.g. a blood cell, such as anerythrocyte). A cell may be that of a unicellular organism, (e.g. atrypanosome), which may be a protozoan or a protist. In someembodiments, the cell is a cell of a pathogen, for example a pathogenicprotozoan, protist, or bacterium. A cell may have a cell wall, or may bewall-less (i.e. without a cell wall).

A fluid sample may contain a mixture of cells or cell types. The presentinventors have found that the minimum power sufficient to lyse cells mayvary depending on cell type. For example, under particular conditions(e.g. cell concentration, droplet contact angle) a specific power maysufficient to lyse cells of a first type, but insufficient to lyse cellsof a second type. Under such conditions, if a SAW of that specific poweris applied to a droplet containing a mixture of cells of the first andsecond type, cell lysis will be achieved for the cells of the first typebut not cells of the second type. Accordingly, SAWs may be applied to afluid sample containing a mixture of cell types in order todifferentially lyse cells of different types. Different cell “type” maymean different taxonomic groups, for example different domains(eukaryotic cell type is different to prokaryotic cell type), kingdoms(e.g. animal cell type is different from fungal cell type), differentphysical or physiological types (e.g. a leukocyte is a different celltype from an erythrocyte). In particular, different cell types are cellsthat are differentially lysable (e.g. a first cell type is more easilylysed than a second cell type, that is, under a given set ofexperimental conditions, the lowest power necessary to achieve celllysis for the first cell type is lower than the lowest power necessaryto achieve cell lysis for the second cell type).

The term cell lysis is used herein to refer to any type of celldisruption. In particular, cell lysis is used to refer to celldisruption that results in release of intracellular molecules to theextracellular milieu, for example by rupture of the plasma membrane.Cell lysis encompasses rupture of the plasma membrane, and may encompassrupture of intracellular compartment (e.g. organelle) membranes such asthe nuclear envelope and mitochondrial outer and inner membranes. Celllysis is typically a complete and irreversible rupture of the plasmamembrane, resulting in cell death. In the context of the presentinvention, however, cell lysis may encompass cell membrane poration,where the plasma membrane is incompletely ruptured (i.e. the plasmamembrane temporarily and reversibly ruptures). Such poration may improvecertain assays such as ELISA, in a similar way to that described inBorthwick et al [Kathryn A. J. Borthwick, Tracey E. Love, Martin B.McDonnell and W. Terence Coakley, Improvement of Immunodetection ofBacterial Spore Antigen by Ultrasonic Cavitation, Anal. Chem. 2005, 77,7242-7245].

The term intracellular molecule, or intracellular molecule of interestincludes macromolecules (protein, DNA, lipid, polysaccharide) smallmolecules (e.g. ATP, ADP. cAMP, glutathione, amino acids,oligosaccharides, monosaccharides) including metabolites and signallingmolecules. The term intracellular molecule encompasses any moleculehaving an intracellular moiety of interest (e.g. a transmembraneprotein). A molecule of interest is compromised if the structure of themolecule becomes significantly different from its native structure orintracellular structure, for example such that the molecule lessamenable to analysis (e.g. an epitope required for immunologicalanalysis is no longer present or has become immunologicallyinaccessible). The term “compromised” as used herein encompassesdenaturation (e.g of a protein of interest) and degradation (e.g.hydrolysis of a polynucleotide, polypeptide or polysaccharide ofinterest).

Further optional features of the invention are set out below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic plan view of a substrate for use with thepresent invention, showing a “funnel” type sample manipulation zone.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic plan view of another substrate for use with thepresent invention, showing a “waveguide” type sample manipulation zone.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic plan view of another substrate for use with thepresent invention, showing a “combination” type sample manipulation zone

FIGS. 4 and 5 show micrographic images from a video sequence captured ona droplet, viewed from the side, on substrates coupled to apiezoelectric device in the manner described above.

FIG. 4 shows a droplet on a plain silicon surface without a border zone.

FIG. 5 shows a droplet on a substrate according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 shows a plan view of an electrode structure for use on atransducer for use with an embodiment of the invention. The electrodeoverlap w is 15 mm, the finger width for each electrode is 170 μm andthe finger pitch p is 330 μm.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic plan view of a disposable substrate for usewith an embodiment of the invention, including typical (butnon-limiting) dimensions.

FIG. 8 provides a surface plot of the acoustic field intensity of aphononic cone structure illustrating the intensity at a first frequencyof 11.36 MHz. The vertical and horizontal axes together denote positionon the substrate surface.

FIG. 9 provides a surface plot of the acoustic field intensity of aphononic cone structure illustrating the intensity at a first frequencyof 11.56 MHz. The vertical and horizontal axes together denote positionon the substrate surface.

FIGS. 10-13 show a series of consecutive frames from micrographic videofootage of an embodiment of the device operating. These images clearlyshow that acoustic energy is being focused and reflected.

FIG. 14 shows the dispersion curve for a free plate, with phase velocityas a function of excitation frequency.

FIG. 15 shows a schematic view of a device according to an embodiment ofthe invention. A separable phononic substrate (or phononic superstrate)in the form of a phononic cone is shown coupled to a lithium niobatesubstrate which comprises an IDT.

FIG. 16 shows a schematic view of a device according to an embodiment ofthe invention. A separable phononic substrate (or phononic superstrate)patterned with a phononic lattice in the form of a phononic cone isshown (a) separated from and (b) coupled to a lithium niobate substratewhich comprises an IDT. In (c) a sample droplet is located near the apexof the phononic cone.

FIG. 17 shows (a) a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the device inuse; (b) and (c) a series of consecutive micrograph frames from videofootage of an embodiment of the device operating; (d) a micrograph of anebulised droplet; and (e) and (f) simulations of an embodiment of thedevice operating at two different frequencies, showing that inputfrequency can be used to excite specific cavities within a phononiccone.

FIG. 18 shows the size of droplets ejected during nebulisation performed(a) on a phononic substrate coupled to a piezoelectric transducerarrangement, and (b) directly on the surface of the piezoelectrictransducer arrangement.

FIG. 19 shows movement of a droplet between cavities of a phononic cone.

FIG. 20 shows (a) a schematic view of an embodiment of a devicecomprising a substrate that includes a phononic lattice in the form of asquare, for use in centrifugation of a droplet; (b) a simulation of SAWintensity on the device showing that the phononic lattice interfereswith the SAWs; (c) a series of micrographs showing concentration ofparticles in the centre of a droplet by centrifugation of the droplet onthe device; (d) a graph showing that an in increase in power results ina higher local concentration of particles in the centrifuged droplet.

FIG. 21 shows the band structure of the phononic lattice shown in FIG.20.

FIG. 22 shows a series of consecutive micrograph frames from videofootage of an embodiment of the device operating to centrifuge bloodcells in a droplet of diluted blood.

FIG. 23 shows (a) a schematic representation of a device including aslanted IDT, for which the lateral position of the SAW emission train isdependent upon the input frequency; and (b) a graph showing therelationship between input frequency and SAW position as calculatedtheoretically (line) and as determined experimentally on a lithiumniobate transducer (horizontally hatched area) and on a separablesubstrate coverslip (vertically hatched area). The inset in FIG. 23( b)shows the magnitude of the S-parameter.

FIG. 24 shows (a) two micrographs of a droplet containing polystyrenebeads before (left image) and after (right image) centrifugation using aslanted IDT device; (b) schematic representation of rotational streamingobserved, including a magnified representation of the interaction of theSAWs train with the droplet in which counterclockwise rotationalstreaming takes place; (c) graph showing relationship between inputfrequency and time taken to concentrate beads in the centre of thedroplet (squares) and estimated area of the interface between the waveand the fluid (curve).

FIG. 25 shows, on the left, schematic representations of the interactionbetween liquid droplets, a substrate and a slanted IDT device and, onthe right, micrographic images from a movie at the different stagesduring a series of fluid manipulations of droplets on the device. Threedifferent input frequencies were used to navigate between eachmanipulation. f3 (11 MHz) moves the left hand droplet to the centre, f4(9.2 MHz) moves the right hand droplet to merge it and f5 (9.6 MHz)mixes the droplet and concentrates reduced silver in the centre of thedroplet.

FIGS. 26, 27 and 28 shows three preferred embodiments of the invention.In each drawing, a schematic view of each embodiment is shown at the topof each panel, followed by four consecutive micrographic frames fromvideo recordings of cell lysis. Near the bottom of each schematic viewis shown a transducer arrangement, which is a slanted finger IDT in thecase of FIG. 26, and a parallel electrode IDT in the case of FIGS. 27and 28. The SAWs emission train is indicated emanating from thetransducer arrangement in each case. A circular droplet of blood isshown a near the top of each schematic view, and the direction ofrotational streaming induced in the droplet by the SAWs is indicated byan arrow. In FIGS. 27 and 28, the droplet is shown as located on asubstrate that is separable from the transducer arrangement.

FIG. 29 shows cell lysis efficiency of the invention evaluated by (a)reporting the proportion of cells lysed for different cell types,droplet volumes, and sample dilutions (b) reporting the proportion oflive (unlysed) cells remaining following treatment using different inputpowers.

FIG. 30 shows efficiency of release of intracellular molecules, asdetermined spectroscopically by measuring in cell samples followinglysis the absorbance at particular wavelengths, indicatingconcentrations of haemoglobin, DNA or protein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS, FURTHER OPTIONALFEATURES

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described byway of example.

It is known that microfluidic technologies can enable the precisecontrol of the delivery of reagents, drugs and metabolites to singlecells or to groups of cells. Such methods for can be used for newmedicines discovery, or to deliver reagents and samples in diagnostictechnologies.

Despite such rapid advances in microfluidic, or so-called“Lab-on-a-Chip” technologies over the last decade, there have, however,been few new methods that have been developed to generate fluid flowwithin micro-scale channels. Most existing methods to create such flowrely on generating a pressure difference to drive the flow (inparticular by the use of various forms of mechanical pumps). Thesemethods all rely upon external interconnects from the chip to the pump,often making the process of connection one of the most challenging.

Other alternative methods currently in use involve the use of aphenomenon known as electrokinetic pumping (including electro-osmosis ordielectrophoresis) to drive the fluid under electrical control. In allcases, however, these techniques require the implementation of metallicplanar transducers within the microchannels. Whilst these electricalconnections to the chip result in fluid flow, the whole chip, includingthe transducers, is disposed of at the end of each assay. Thus, neitherpressure driven mechanical pumping, nor electrokinetics, afford the userwith the ability to interrogate and move the fluid in a “non-contact”manner, at low cost.

The present inventors have developed new techniques for dropletmanipulation in the microfluidic regime. These techniques are based uponthe use of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) generated on a piezoelectricdevice, such as a device based on lithium niobate, LiNbO₃.

A Raleigh wave is a coupled compressional-shear system where thelongitudinal and the transverse motion are out of phase by 90°. Thepresent inventors have demonstrated that it is possible to propagatesuch longitudinal Raleigh waves (an example of SAWs) from thepiezoelectric device, through a coupling medium (which can, for examplebe water or an oil) into a thin disposable microfluidic chip substrateformed of plastic, glass or other suitable material. Surprisingly, thewaves carry sufficient energy to subsequently drive the fluids on thedisposable substrate. Although the LiNbO₃ piezoelectric device is,itself, relatively expensive, in this format it is a re-usable platform,and it is only the substrate that is disposed of after a (typicallysingle) use. The only physical contact for actuation of the droplet isthrough the medium between the LiNbO₃ and the disposable chip.

When Raleigh waves are propagated from a piezoelectric device to asubstrate (e.g. a thin chip) coupled to the surface of the piezoelectricdevice, the resultant acoustic waves in the substrate may be describedas Lamb waves. Raleigh waves and Lamb waves are types of surfaceacoustic waves. The term surface acoustic wave (SAW) is used herein todescribe both Raleigh waves and Lamb waves unless indicated otherwise.

The functionality of the platform can, however, also be readily extendedbeyond simple pumping of fluids or droplets. For example, bymicrofabricating multiple SAW transducers on the piezoelectric device,and through the subsequent differential actuation of these transducers,it is possible to manipulate droplets in a variety of differentdirections (linear, orthogonal or at any angle between). If necessary,by combining different relative components of wave generation fromorthogonal actuators, it is possible to enable splitting andrecombination of droplets.

Surface acoustic waves are longitudinal in nature, such that a componentof the energy is dissipated in the z-plane (containing the couplingmedium). This is in contrast with shear waves parallel to the plane ofpropagation, where no significant energy would be dissipated normal tothe surface. As this longitudinal wave propagates within the couplingmedium, it is subject to reflections off the lower (basal) plane of thedisposable microfluidic substrate. Thus, by micromachining well definedstructures within this plane (using established surface microengineeringtechniques including photolithography, pattern-transfer, mask definitionand etching), it is possible to engineer complex energy distributions inthe disposable substrate. Indeed, by focussing the energies of theacoustic waves within the chip, it is possible to lyse cells on-chip, orto atomise samples such that they can be transported off-chip. Oneparticular application is the creation of plumes of atomised samples,which can be captured in ion-funnels to provide an innovative interfacebetween low volume (e.g. single cell) biology and mass spectrometry.Other examples of the applications of the device involve the selectiveconcentration of particles with respect to their size or mass (i.e.their fractionation). This can underpin diagnostic applications inseparating vesicles, cells and micro-organisms.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic example of a substrate in plan view. Thesubstrate typically has a length of 20 mm and a width of 14 mm. Theexample of FIG. 1 is a funnel design, in which the sample manipulationzone 10 is bounded by a boundary zone 12. The boundary zone includes aphononic bandgap structure of holes formed in the substrate surface. Theholes are arranged in a two dimensional square lattice pattern. In thisexample, each hole has a radius of 176 μm. In this example, the spacingbetween the centres of adjacent holes is 374 μm.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1, except that the design is a waveguidedesign.

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 1, except that the design is a combinationdesign.

In order to manufacture the substrates shown in FIGS. 1-3, a 4 inch (9cm) silicon wafer was coated in AZ4562 photoresist and a patterntransferred into the resist using photolithography. The patternconsisted of a square array of circular holes arranged to provide afunnel, a waveguide with split or combination of funnel and waveguide,as shown in FIGS. 1-3, respectively.

The photoresist pattern was used as a dry etched mask where the holeswere etched to a depth of approximately 230 μm. This depth equated tohalf the thickness of the Si wafer. The wafer was then cleaned inacetone and then cleaved to provide individual test structures. The teststructures were cleaned again given an oxygen plasma treatment and thenimmersed in a solution of heptane and atri-chloro-tri-deca-fluoro-octylsilane in order to give a hydrophobicsurface to the silicon test structures, contact angle >65°.

The surface acoustic wave source consisted of a 3 inch (6.75 cm) LiNbO₃with an interdigitated electrode structure. This is referred to as aninterdigitated transducer (IDT). The IDT was resonant at a frequency of6.18 MHz and SAWs at this frequency were used for the tests. Aprogrammable signal generator was used to provide an input of 6.18 MHzwith amplitude of −10 dBm (1 μW) pulsed at 50 Hz to an amplifier with 40dB gain to present approximately 10 dBm (1 W) to the IDT.

De-ionised water was used as a coupling agent between the silicon testsubstrates and the lithium niobate wafer; approximately 10 μL was usedfor this purpose. In order to test mobility and atomisation, the dropletsize was about 2 μL.

During testing, each of the structures shown in FIGS. 1-3 influenced themovement of the water droplets on the silicon surface. The structurethat appeared to function most efficiently was the funnel (FIG. 1) andthis was primarily thought to be due to the relative size of thestructure, although the inventors do not wish to be bound by theory inthis regard. The funnel efficiently moved and focused the drops to thefocal point of the funnel irrespective of the initial starting point ofthe droplet in the sample manipulation zone. Although the teststructures were used multiple times their efficacy decreased with usage,as it was difficult to adequately clean dried droplet stains from theexposed silicon surface. This suggests that the substrate should, wherepossible, should be used only once and then disposed of.

The waveguide structure (FIG. 2) provided guiding of the water dropletsand reduced or eliminated wander of the droplet trajectory on thesilicon surface that would be observed without the border zone. Nosplitting of droplets was observed although movement into eitherwaveguide split was observed.

The combination structure (FIG. 3) provided focusing of droplets to thewaveguide structure and transit along the structure was also observed.

Atomisation of water droplets could be achieved on all structures. Thisis discussed in more detail below.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show micrographic images from a video sequence captured ona droplet, viewed from the side, on substrates coupled to apiezoelectric device in the manner described above. FIG. 4 shows adroplet on a plain silicon surface without a border zone. FIG. 5 shows adroplet on a substrate according to an embodiment of the invention (i.e.having a border zone with a phononic band gap structure as describedabove). The image in each case is taken approximately 250 microsecsafter the surface acoustic wave meets the droplet. As can be seen, moreenergy is transferred to the droplet in FIG. 5 than in FIG. 4. Eachdroplet has a volume of 1 μL. The power used in these experiments was 0dBm input which supplied 5 W at the IDT. The excitation frequency was9.56 MHz. The dimensions of the substrates were 2 cm by 1.5 cm. Theamount of coupling fluid was reduced to 4 μL—this provided a layer ofapproximately 13 μm thick. The substrates were placed in the sameposition and were of the same thickness (450 μm).

Further details relating to the preferred embodiment of the device areset out below.

A piezoelectric device was fabricated on a 128° Y-cut X-propagating 3inch (6.75 cm) LiNbO₃ wafer. Transducers were formed on the wafer, eachhaving 20 pairs of electrode “fingers” to form interdigitatedtransducers (IDT). The electrode “fingers” were located withapproximately 330 μm pitch p, 180 μm finger width f, with 15 mm aperturew (overlap), see FIG. 6. The direction of overlap of the fingers can beconsidered to be a transverse direction of the IDT. The electrodes werepatterned using a lift off process where after photolithography, usingacetate masks, a 20 nm adhesion layer of titanium was deposited prior to100 nm of gold onto the wafer, lift off was then carried out in a beakerwith acetone to produce the IDT electrodes for the SAW device.

An Agilent MXG Analog Signal Generator N5181A 250 KHz 1 GHz, inconjunction with a Mini Circuits ZHL-5W-1, 5-500 MHz amplifier, was usedto power the SAW device. The amplifier was powered by a TTi EX354D DualPower Supply 280 W that could supply 3 A and ±24V DC. Approximately 1 Wof power was applied to the IDT. The driving signal for the SAW devicewas pulsed for 20 ms every 100 ms, to avoid excess heating. Dropletswere imaged at 62 frames per second using a high speed camera (Red LakeM3), which allowed the capture of atomisation from single pulses to bevisualized, when the surface acoustic waves travelled through thedroplet.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic plan view of a disposable substrate for usewith this embodiment. This substrate was constructed using a siliconwafer with a thickness of about 0.5 mm. The 4 inch Si wafer was coatedin AZ4562 photoresist and patterned using photolithography. The patternconsisted of a square array of circular holes arranged to provide afunnel or cone of unpatterned silicon (sample manipulation zone). Thephotoresist pattern was then transferred into the silicon using dry etchwhere the holes were etched to a depth of approximately 0.23 mm. Thewafer was then cleaned in acetone and then cleaved to provide individualtest structures. The dimension of the cone patterned substrate wasapproximately 15 mm by 30 mm. The aperture for the cone was 10 mm andthe apex was approximately 0.57 mm (corresponding to two holes missing).

De-ionised water was used as a coupling agent between the silicon teststructures and the lithium niobate wafer; approximately 10 μL was usedfor this purpose, providing a coupling medium layer of less than about20 μm between wafer and test substrate. In order to illustrateatomisation, two 1 μL drops were used, one at the apex of the cone, theother approximately 10 mm away from the apex.

The phononic structure in the border zone consisted of a square array ofholes etched into silicon, to a depth about half way through the wafer.This regular perturbation in the Young's modulus of the materialprovides the material with a frequency dependent acoustic transmissionor reflection property.

FIG. 8 provides a surface plot of the acoustic field intensity of aphononic cone structure illustrating the intensity at a first frequencyof 11.36 MHz. FIG. 9 provides a surface plot of the acoustic fieldintensity of a phononic cone structure illustrating the intensity at afirst frequency of 11.56 MHz. These plots together show theeffectiveness of the phononic structure to confine the acoustic fielddepending on the frequency used: a change of 200 KHz from 11.36 MHz to11.56 MHz can provide a 3 dB change in intensity. The present inventorsaimed to find the resonant frequency of the IDT to obtain the mostefficient frequency to atomise the drops from the lithium niobate. Inthis case 12.85 MHz was found to be the resonant frequency for the IDTand droplet atomisation from the lithium niobate surface. However, thisfrequency of operation did not provide suitable operation of thephononic structures in the border zone. It was observed that by reducingthe excitation frequency for the IDT down to 12.64 MHz a dramaticincrease in atomisation was observed on the substrates with phononicstructures. The increase in substrate activity was more than enough tocompensate for any decrease in IDT acoustic conductance (the amount ofelectrical power that can be transformed into mechanical power).

The wavelength of the SAW depends on the pitch of an IDT. However, theobserved change in acoustic response of the phononic structure wouldindicate a change in the wavelength of the SAW and hence variation inthe pitch of the intedigitated electrodes.

This variation was a consequence of using acetate masks for prototyping.The masks did posses a variation in the electrode thickness but thesevariations were thought to be insignificant, which appears not to be thecase. So in effect the inventors were using an IDT with a range ofpitches allowing a number of possible wavelengths to be radiated.

In an alternative embodiment, the transducer uses a slantedinterdigitated electrode structure. This is then used as a tunablesource of SAWs. By slanting the electrodes the inter-electrode distancechanges with lateral position across the electrode structure. Thisarrangement can be modelled by an array of IDT's with differing interelectrode spacing. The position of the SAW depends on the excitationfrequency used.

The device of the present embodiment was designed for a certainoperating wavelength (frequency) but typically there are always somedeviations from the design parameters due to manufacturing tolerancesduring fabrication. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the phononic structuresare highly frequency/wavelength dependent. Therefore, by varying theexcitation frequency slightly away from the predicted operatingfrequency, it is possible to tune in to a useful operating regime wherethe SAW wavelength is shifted enough to allow the device to functionsubstantially as designed.

FIGS. 10-13 show a series of consecutive frames from video footage of anembodiment of the device operating. These images clearly show thatacoustic energy is being focused and reflected.

In FIGS. 10-13, two 1 μL droplets have been placed onto the surface ofthe silicon phononic substrate. The first droplet is directly in thepath of the second droplet, about 10 mm behind the first droplet. Thesecond droplet should in effect “steal” some of the acoustic energybefore the acoustic energy can reach the other first droplet. This wouldbe observed, for example, if the droplets were located on the surface ofthe piezoelectric transducer (and without a border zone). Despite this,atomisation was observed only for the first droplet, at the apex of thephononic cone. The length of the substrate in this case was 30 mm. Thepower used in this case was five times lower than in the experimentsreported above.

Atomisation for 0.5 μL drops has been observed at 790 mW applied power.

FIG. 10 shows the first of a series of frames taken from a moviecaptured at 62 frames per second. This first image is just prior to anultrasonic SAW pulse arriving at the droplets at about 4000 m/s.Approximately 1 W of power was applied to the IDT.

FIG. 11 shows the droplets irradiated by the SAWs with the seconddroplet clearly agitated but not atomising, whereas the first drop nearthe apex of the cone is atomising (or more correctly nebulising).

FIG. 12 shows a frame in which the 20 ms pulse has stopped but some freeoscillation in the drops can be observed. It is interesting to note thatthe drop that was atomising was in the shadow of the second drop andwould normally experience much less acoustic radiation as the seconddrop would absorb a significant amount of the Rayleigh wave energy.

In FIG. 13 the oscillations have stopped and only the plume expelledfrom the first drop can be seen. This illustrates the efficacy of thedevice.

The design, construction and investigation of the embodiment of thedevice shown in FIGS. 10-13. will now be described in more detail.

The surface acoustic waves were generated on the piezoelectric LiNbO₃wafer by an interdigitated transducer (IDT) and propagated as Rayleighwaves, in a non dispersive manner with a single velocity. The resonantfrequency, f₀, is directly related to the Rayleigh wave velocity in thematerial, c_(R), (3996 m/s), the SAW wavelength λ and the pitch of theinterdigitated electrodes, D, as per equation (1):

$\begin{matrix}{\lambda = {\frac{c_{R}}{f_{0}} = {2D}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

The Rayleigh waves were coupled into a substrate in the form of a sheet,or plate (which substrate sheet or plate may be referred to as a chip),via an intermediate thin film of water. As a free plate, the substratesupports a number of propagation modes, termed Lamb waves (named afterLamb, the first to carry out the analysis). There are two distinctclasses of Lamb wave propagation modes, symmetric and antisymmetric,that can be resolved using the Rayleigh-Lamb frequency equations (2) and(3).

$\begin{matrix}{{\frac{\tan \left( \frac{qd}{2} \right)}{\tan \left( \frac{pd}{2} \right)} = {- \frac{4k^{2}{pq}}{\left( {q^{2} - k^{2}} \right)^{2}}}},{{symmetric}\mspace{14mu} {modes}}} & (2) \\{{{\frac{\tan \left( \frac{qd}{2} \right)}{\tan \left( \frac{qd}{2} \right)} = {- \frac{\left( {q^{2} - k^{2}} \right)^{2}}{4k^{2}{pq}}}},{{antisymmetric}\mspace{14mu} {modes}}}{where}{{p^{2} = {\left( \frac{\varpi}{c_{L}} \right)^{2} - k^{2}}},{q^{2} = {\left( \frac{\varpi}{c_{T}} \right)^{2} - k^{2}}},{and}}{k = {{2{\pi/\lambda}} = {\varpi/c_{phase}}}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

with d the plate thickness, and c_(L) (8433 m/s) and c_(T) (4563 m/s)the longitudinal and transversal velocities, respectively.

These transcendental equations, with many real solutions, reveal thatLamb waves are dispersive, as the phase velocity, c_(phase), is afunction of the frequency thickness product f×d. Thus for a fixedfrequency, the wavelength and the mode propagated in the substrate sheetcan be controlled via its thickness.

FIG. 14 shows the dispersion curve for a free plate, with phase velocityas a function of excitation frequency. At 12.6 MHz, two asymmetric andthree symmetric modes can be excited. The phase velocities of the lowestorder modes A₀ and S₀ are the closest to that of the propagatingRayleigh wave in the substrate sheet (C_(phase), 3996 m/s), which theinventors worked with, and thus these modes are excited in preference tohigher order ones. The inventors used these data, together withpreviously published criteria for phononic plate structures[Djafari-Rouhani B et al. (2008) Absolute band gaps and waveguiding infree standing and supported phononic crystal slabs. Photonics andNanostructures—Fundamentals and Applications 6:32-37] to design phononicstructures to manipulate fluid.

These phononic structures were then modelled as simple 2-D diffractionproblems, where the acoustic waves were described using a time harmonicHelmholtz wave equation (4), in which a pressure wave, P, was launchedinto the structure (density ρ), over a range of wavelengths calculatedfrom the Lamb wave number, k, at a particular (fd) product.

$\begin{matrix}{{{{- \nabla} \cdot \left( {\frac{1}{\rho}{\nabla P}} \right)} - \frac{k^{2}P}{\rho}} = 0} & (4)\end{matrix}$

The inventors developed simple phononic structures, where the latticecomprises an array of holes, and where all cases were treated withNeumann boundary conditions. Using these design criteria the inventorsproduced a series of square lattice 2D phononic crystals, whichamplified or shaped the acoustic field, within the substrate sheet. Thephononic crystal was used to create acoustic cavities, which wereexcited at different wavelengths, resulting either in scattering orreflection of the energy. This can focus the energy into specificregions of the chip. As a consequence, the interaction between the Lambwave and the phononic lattice generates spatial variations of theacoustic field intensity, associated with the different propagationregimes within the chip.

Importantly, energy losses that occur during the coupling of theacoustic wave from the lithium niobate wafer into the substrate sheetare mitigated against by the phononic structure, which can focus thepower into specific regions of the chip.

The Lamb waves propagated in the chip interact with the droplet ofliquid placed on its surface in a similar fashion as Rayleigh waves in apiezoelectric material would. In the case of Rayleigh waves, theinteraction with the liquid dampens the surface-propagating wave, whichdecays as it propagates along the surface. It is then termed a leakyRayleigh wave and radiates a compressional wave into the liquid, whichcannot support shear waves. Similarly, a droplet of liquid placed on thesubstrate renders the Lamb waves evanescent, with the acoustic energybeing refracted into the liquid at an angle termed the Ralyeigh angleθ_(R), determined by Snell's law (equation 5) relating the speed of thewaves in solid and liquid:

$\begin{matrix}{{\sin \; \theta_{R}} = \frac{c_{liquid}}{c_{solid}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

Depending on the power applied, different fluidic regimes can be inducedin the droplet, from (acoustic) streaming where volumetric flow iscreated throughout the drop by recirculation, to the destabilisation ofthe contact line resulting in droplet movement, as well as nebulisationand jetting by disrupting the drop's free surface into smaller droplets.Examples of the spatial control of the acoustic energy upon thedifferent regimes on the phononic substrate sheets are described in moredetail below.

The SAW device was fabricated on a 128° Y-cut X-propagating 3 inchLiNbO₃ wafer, each device consisted of 20 pairs of electrodes to form aninter-digitated transducer (IDT) with pitch of 160 μm, 80 μm width, anda 10 mm aperture. The SAW IDTs were patterned using a lift off processwhere, after pattern transfer into an S1818 resist, a 20 nm titaniumadhesion layer was evaporated prior to deposition of 100 nm of gold.Lift-off was then performed in acetone, in order to realise the pattern.

An Agilent Technologies MXG Analog Signal Generator N5181A was used inconjunction with a Mini Circuits ZHL-5W-1, 5-500 MHz amplifier and a 3A, ±24V DC power supply to power the SAW device. For nebulisationexperiments, the driving signal for the SAW device was pulsed for 20 msevery 100 ms, to avoid heating. Droplets were imaged at 62 fps using aRed Lake M3 high-speed camera mounted on a Leica upright microscope,which allowed the capture of nebulisation from the droplets to bevisualized, when the surface acoustic waves travelled through thedroplet. The IDT's were characterised using an Agilent TechnologiesE5071C ENA series network analyser.

The substrate was fabricated using silicon wafer with an approximatethickness of 470 micrometre. The 4 inch Si wafer was coated in AZ4562photoresist and patterned using standard photolithography. The patterncomprised a square array (pitch 203 micrometre) of circular holes(radius 82 micrometre) and was transferred into resist layer. Thephotoresist pattern was then transferred into the silicon using dry etch(STS ICP) where the holes were etched. The wafer was cleaned in acetoneand cleaved to provide the substrates. The dimension of the patternedsubstrate was approximately 20 mm by 30 mm. In the case of the acoustichorn, the aperture for the cone was made to be 10 mm to coincide withthe IDT aperture and the apex of the cone was approximately 1.22 mmwide. (In the case of the centrifugal filter, described further below,the same square array of circular holes was used and actuation of thefluid was observed with 10 micrometre polystyrene beads (Duke ScientificG1000)). A 5 microlitre volume of de-ionised water was placed betweenthe substrate and the transducer surface to provide a coupling layerapproximately 50 micrometre thick to promote SAW coupling.

A schematic of the device is shown in FIG. 15, which depicts theapplication of sinusoidal wave from a 5 W rf power source 20 (operablein the range 8 to 20 MHz) to the interdigitated transducer (IDT) 22having an aperture of 10 mm to generate a Rayleigh Wave (SAW) 24. TheSAW on the LiNbO₃ wafer surface induces Lamb waves in the substrate 26coupled to the LiNbO₃ wafer surface (such a separable, couplablesubstrate may be referred to as a superstrate), where the intensity wasfocused at the 1 μl drop 28. The IDT electrodes had a pitch of 160micrometre, electrode widths of 80 micrometre and an aperture ofapproximately 10 mm. The phononic crystal comprised holes of 82micrometre radius with a pitch of 203 micrometre, to provide a fillfactor of 0.8, etched into [100] silicon (where structure was aligned tothe [011] direction of the silicon wafer, the propagation direction ofthe Lamb waves was parallel to the [011] direction).

FIG. 16 provides schematic perspective views of the device. FIG. 16 aillustrates the transducer arrangement, comprising a lithium niobatewafer and an IDT, on to which a substrate including a phononic lattice(a phononic substrate) is to be placed. FIG. 16 b shows the phononicsubstrate on the transducer arrangement. FIG. 16 c shows the droplet tobe manipulated placed onto the phononic substrate.

The phononic substrate was designed in the form of a phononic cone inorder to focus the acoustic energy, as a series of steps (or cavities),with each feature being resonant at a particular frequency, and actingas a Fabry Perot cavity [Qiu C, Liu Z, Mei J, Shi J (2005)Mode-selecting acoustic filter by using resonant tunneling oftwo-dimensional double phononic crystals. Appl. Phys. Lett.87:104101-104103; Wu T T, Hsu C H, Sun J H (2006) Design of a highlymagnified directional acoustic source based on the resonant cavity oftwo-dimensional phononic crystals. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89:171912-171913].FIG. 17 a shows a schematic drawing of the device, similar to FIG. 16 c.The droplet is shown placed on the phononic substrate (phononic cone),and the phononic substrate is coupled to the transducer arrangement.

Six steps, or cavities, of the phononic cone are numbered 1 to 6 inFIGS. 17 b and c.

These show micrographic stills from a movie captured at 62 fps beforeand during nebulisation, with the device being excited at 12.6 MHz withan applied power of 1.25 W. In FIG. 17 b the droplets are quiescent andtheir position can only be seen from light reflections. In FIG. 17 c thedroplet in the fourth cavity is nebulised, whilst that in the tenthcavity (not numbered in FIG. 17) was agitated, and thus became visible,but was not nebulised. (FIGS. 17 b and c correspond to the images shownin FIGS. 10 and 12). FIG. 17 d presents a side view captured with a fastcamera and shows a picture of the flattened droplet during nebulisationcaptured at 4 000 frames per second (using a Phantom 7.1 camera,Research Vision, Inc.). The nebulised mist can be seen above the drop.

Acoustic waves on the surface of the substrate, within the phononicstructure were observed using white light interferometry, and thewavelengths measured on both the LiNbO₃ wafer and on the substratewithin the phononic structure. The inventors chose an excitationfrequency of the IDT, driving the SAW, in order to excite particularcavity modes within the phononic substrate (i.e. cavities 1 to 6 in FIG.17). For example, the fourth cavity readily accommodated the contactarea of the drop and was excited at 12.6 MHz.

FIGS. 17 e and f show simulations of the phononic cone structure whenexcited at 12.6 MHz and 13.2 MHz respectively. Standing waves develop asa consequence of the sidewalls acting as a series of Fabry Perotetalons. The standing waves in the cavities are of up to an order ofmagnitude larger than the acoustic field on an unmodified substrate (asubstrate with no phononic lattice), depending on the frequency. Eachcavity could be excited at different frequencies, where there was about300 KHz spacing between each cavity (i.e. between cavities 1 and 2;between cavities 2 and 3, etc). For example the second cavity showed thehighest enhancement factor of about 10 at 13.2 MHz whereas the fourthcavity showed an enhancement of about 6 at 12.60 MHz excitation. Thephononic cone was modelled as a simple 2-D diffraction problem usingCOMSOL Multiphysics v3.5a.

The data presented in FIGS. 17 e and f show that different cavities ofthe device can be excited at different frequencies. The device has beendesigned so that the phononic structure acts as an efficient reflectorand little energy is dissipated into the lattice. The simulations alsoshow that the spatial variation in acoustic intensities, as well as thegeneration of standing waves, were perpendicular to the direction ofpropagation of the Lamb waves. Changes in frequency of 0.6 MHz canprovide significant variations in acoustic field intensity, a factcorroborated experimentally.

The nebulisation phenomenon has been studied further. When relativelyhigh powers are applied, the acoustic energy overcomes the surfacetension pinning the drop to the surface so that it spreads out in aliquid film (FIG. 17 d) and gives rise to capillary resonance waves inthe liquid which are determined by internal viscous damping and inertialforcing of the drop. These capillary waves have a wavelength on theorder of the diameter of the nebulised drops with volumes in thesub-picolitre range. FIG. 17 d shows the nebulisation of a 1 microlitredroplet proceeding on the phononic substrate. The droplet was placed ina cavity of the cone phononic substrate and nebulised using SAWs excitedwith a frequency of 12.6 MHz and a power of 4 W. FIG. 18 shows the sizeof droplets ejected during nebulisation. Nebuisation of water droplets(1-2 microlitres) was performed on the cone phononic substrate coupledto the piezoelectric transducer arrangement (FIG. 18 a) or directly onthe surface of the piezoelectric transducer arrangement (FIG. 18 b) withexcitation frequencies around 12 MHz (+/−1.2 MHz). The size of thedroplets ejected was measured with a Phase Doppler Particle Analyser.The data set from each experimental run (with multiple runs percondition) was fitted with a Weibull distribution and the modesextracted using Matlab (R2010a, The Mathworks, Inc.). An example of thefitted distribution, superimposed on the histogram, is shown for one runfor each condition. Values presented are the average of the modesobtained for each condition with the standard deviation. Interestinglythis data also shows that droplets nebulised on a phononic superstrateare smaller than on the IDT. Two other modes not associated withnebulisation were observed, with droplets sizes centered around 50 μm)and 150 μm, resulting from jetting phenomena. The diameter of thedroplets nebulised from the surface of the phononic cone substrate wasmeasured at 5.2 micrometre(+/−0.9 micrometre), and was not significantlydifferent from a nebulisation happening on an unstructured substrate.

However, a major difference with using an unstructured substrate lies inthe large variation in the extent of nebulisation on the phononicsubstrate, which is dependent upon where the droplet was placed withinthe cone. This precise spatial control of the acoustic field is alsoseen experimentally in FIG. 17 which shows an (b) image captured priorto application of the SAW and (c) an image captured during applicationof the SAW. The latter clearly shows that excitation of the droplet inthe fourth cavity at 12.6 MHz resulted in nebulisation, whilst there isno excitation 10 mm away, in cavities within the trumpet of the cone.The spatial control of the acoustic energy also enabled the reproducibleplacement of the drop on the phononic substrate as it aligned itself tothe excited cavity when deposited around it, as described further below.

Droplet movement and splitting was observed using the device shown inFIG. 17, as described below.

When the acoustic radiation applied or coupled in the substrateovercomes or is equal to the sliding force F_(s) given by equation (6),droplet movement can be achieved.

$\begin{matrix}{F_{s} = {2R\; \gamma_{LG}{\sin \left( \frac{\theta_{a} + \theta_{r}}{2} \right)}\left( {{\cos \; \theta_{r}} - {\cos \; \theta_{a}}} \right)}} & (6)\end{matrix}$

In equation (6) R is the radius of the drop, γ is the surface tensionand θ_(a) and θ_(r) are the advancing and receding contact angles of thedrop when no acoustic wave is applied.

By placing a droplet between two cavities, one of which is resonant, thespatial variation of the acoustic energy densities (as shown in FIG.17), results in acoustic forces on the droplet which splits and/or movesof the droplet as it moves towards the cavity with the higher energy. Bytuning the strength and frequency of the field in the cavities, relativeto each other, droplets will either divide symmetrically orasymmetrically. The process of droplet movement or division is driven byrefracted waves (one directed) and reflected waves in the oppositedirection (back from the phononic cone). The mobility of the drop can beimproved by reducing the contact angle hysteresis, by making the surfacehydrophobic. For example, a 5 microlitre water droplet was observed tomove back and forth between 3 cavities of a phononic cone treated with ahydrophobic silane. FIG. 19 shows the movement of a 5 microlitre waterdroplet between three cavities of a phononic cone, at different times(a. 0 seconds; b. 0.2 seconds; c. 0.6 seconds), when the exitingfrequency is changed from 12.23 MHz (a) to 12.43 MHz (c) with incrementsof 0.1 MHz

The propagation of the SAW directly on the piezoelectric wafer or anunstructured substrate coupled to the piezoelectric wafer resulted indroplet movements in the same direction as the SAW, whereas on thephononic substrate, the droplet was moved in the opposite direction tothe SAW, by increasing the frequency from 12.23 MHz to 12.43 MHz (−3dBm). It was brought back to the same position by decreasing thefrequency from 12.43 MHz to 12.23 MHz.

The same transducer arrangement as described above, used for dropletnebulisation, splitting or movement, can be used to create an on-chip“centrifuge” (more correctly “separator”, as discussed above, but othersin the art use the term “centrifuge”), by using a different substrate,coupled to the transducer arrangement, as described below.

The device used for centrifugation of particles within fluid droplets isshown schematically in FIG. 20 a. The transducer arrangement andsubstrate were made as described above with reference to FIGS. 10-19,except the phononic lattice was formed as a square, rather than as acone.

FIG. 20 b shows simulation results (Comsol multiphysics 3.5a) where apressure wave was propagated in the superstrate at 12.6 MHz and has itssymmetry broken by the phononic lattice. These results show that thephononic structure generates a difference in speeds of the induced Lambwave in the substrate, breaking the symmetry of the acoustic wave andinducing angular momentum within the sample. The resulting flow patternsconcentrate particles within the liquid, due to fluid motions which havesimilarities to those described by Batchelor [Batchelor G K (1951) Noteon a class of solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations representingsteady rotationally-symmetric flow. Q. J. Mech. Appl. Math. 4:29-41;Raghaven R V, Friend J R, Yeo L Y (2010) Particle concentration viaacoustically driven microcentrifugation: microPIV flow visualization andnumerical modelling studies. Microfluid. Nanofluid. 8:73-84].

FIG. 21 shows the band gap of the square phononic array. The wavepropagation was investigated using the two-dimensional plane waveexpansion method [Hsu J and Wu T, (2006) Efficient formulation forband-structure calculations of two-dimensional phononic-crystal plates.Phys Rev. B, 74, 144303]. As will be understood by the skilled person,this type of reduced wave vector diagram is a convenient way to describeband gaps in symmetrical structures. Thus, in this example, where aphononic crystal has a particular symmetry, it is not necessary toconsider all the possible propagation directions of a wave in thecrystal. But by taking the symmetry of the structure into account it isonly necessary to consider propagation in a reduced number ofdirections; for a square lattice (as in this example) we only need totake directions from 0 to pi/4 radians (0 to 45 degrees) with respect toone of the reciprocal lattice vectors of the crystal. The reciprocallattice is the Fourier map of the crystal (or its diffraction pattern),where the wave vector of a wave is the direction of propagation withrespect to the reciprocal lattice. For isotropic materials, it is onlynecessary to consider one direction of propagation, or one wave vector.The hatched area corresponds to the absolute band gap from 7.67 MHz to14.48 MHz. These data complement those presented in FIG. 20 b, showingthe wave filtered by the phononic structure when propagated at 12.6 MHz.

In order to better understand the flow patterns generated by this typeof phononic structure, the inventors explored the behaviour of beadswithin these flows. FIG. 20 c shows micrographic stills at differenttime points from a 7 second experiment with 10 micrometre polystyrenebeads in a 10 microlitre water droplet, using a power of −8 dBm, endingwith the concentration of the beads in the centre of the droplet. FIG.20 d shows the relationship between the increase in concentration(measured as the area covered by the beads at the end of the experimentusing pixel counting image software) of 10 micrometre polystyrene in adroplet and the power applied to the piezoelectric wafer. The standarderror of the mean is shown, with the extent of centrifugation measuredusing pixel counting image analysis software. Examples of stills fromthe experiments are shown as inserts for powers −12, −8, and −6 dBmrespectively. These images show that the beads concentrate in the centreof the droplet in a manner related to the power, and hence the velocityof flow (analogous to the “tea leaf effect”, explained by Batchelor).

Interestingly, the inventors observed anti-clockwise streaming with theconfiguration shown in FIG. 20 a (with the phononic filter toward theleft of the IDT and the left side of the droplet). However, if themicrofluidic chip was turned through 90 degrees relative to the IDT(such that the phononic filter was positioned towards the right of theIDT and the right side of the droplet), then the observed fluidstreaming was clockwise in direction.

As a relevant example of a biological application, the concentration ofblood cells from diluted blood samples was demonstrated. FIG. 22 showsstills from an experiment with blood (diluted 1:50 in PBS) using a powerof −7 dBm, at different time points over a 5 second experiment, at theend of which the blood cells can be seen to concentrate in the middle ofthe 10 microlitre droplet.

The inventors have demonstrated a new concept in microfluidics showingthat complex microfluidic manipulations, including for example thecentrifugation of blood, can be performed on a disposable phononic chip.The SAW excitation frequency was chosen to couple across thetransducer-substrate interface, where droplet manipulation was achieved.The phononic structures interact with the acoustic field, providingexcellent reflectivity or scattering to the incoming acoustic waves. Theexperiments described herein show how droplet actuation is dependentupon the geometric design and elastic contrast within the phononiccrystal, as well as the frequency of the acoustic wave, and how avariety of different fluid motions on a disposable chip can be producedon-chip, including droplet movement, splitting, nebulisation andcentrifugation (without the need for electrodes, channels or pumps, forexample). This flexible and powerful method does not require complexinterconnect technologies, nor high voltages (as is the case in manyelectrokinetic techniques). In the future, by combing different phononicstructures, it will become possible to create a “tool-box” of differentfluidic functions (each being modulated by the geometric structure andthe frequency of the acoustic wave). Just as in electronics, wheredifferent components are combined to create a circuit, so, combinationsof phononic lattices will produce complex microanalytical systems, onchip. Although the transducer arrangement (e.g. LiNbO₃ piezoelectricwafer) is relatively expensive, in accordance with the present inventionit may be a re-usable platform for use with a low cost disposablesubstrate.

In conclusion of this section relating to phononic structures, thesubstrates made according to the preferred embodiments of the inventionare very frequency and/or wavelength selective. The phononic structuresdo interact with the acoustic field if working in the correct operatingregime providing good reflectivity to the incoming acoustic waves. Ithas been shown that such structures can be used to engineer the acousticfield to provide enhanced manipulation (such as atomisation) of liquiddroplets from the substrate surface. Manipulation processes applied tothe fluid sample can be one or more of:

-   -   movement    -   mixing (e.g. within a single fluid sample)    -   splitting of the fluid sample    -   combining two or more fluid samples    -   sorting fluid samples or particles (or cells) within fluid        samples    -   atomization    -   concentration, including centrifugation

In addition, embodiments of the present invention allow sensing of fluidsamples (e.g. sensing the location of one or more fluid samples) byconsidering attenuation of mechanical waves picked up by one or moretransducers at the piezoelectric layer.

As stated above, in some preferred embodiments of the present inventionthe transducer includes a slanted interdigitated arrangement ofelectrodes, known as a slanted IDT or slanted finger IDT.

Slanted finger IDTs are used in data terminals as mid-band and wide-bandfilters. The theory of using slanted electrodes in microfluidics hasbeen described [Wu, T. & Chang, I., 2005. Actuating and detecting ofmicrodroplet using slanted finger interdigital transducers. Journal ofApplied Physics, 98(2), 024903-7]. However, practical realization ofsuch devices has not been demonstrated, either with droplets directly onpiezoelectric or on separate (e.g. disposable) substrates. The inventorsinvestigated the use of slanted IDTs in microfluidics, in particular theuse of a slanted IDT in combination with a separable substrate (asubstrate sheet, or “superstrate”), as described herein in accordancewith certain aspects of the present invention.

The SAW amplitude excited by a slanted IDT is not uniform and differentprofiles can be obtained by tuning the input frequency. The resonantfrequency, f, is dependent upon the pitch of the fingers D, and thesound velocity on the piezoelectric wafer, c (Equation 1, above,reproduced in slightly different form as Equation 1* below).Consequently, for a given input frequency, the SAW output is onlygenerated when the gap (D/2) between the IDT satisfies the ability ofthe electrodes to support the resonance.

$\begin{matrix}{{2D} = {\lambda = \frac{c}{f}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1^{*}}\end{matrix}$

The inventors fabricated divergent IDT electrodes where both theelectrode separation (D/2) and their width (D/2) varied linearly from62.5 micrometre to 125 micrometre along the aperture This corresponds towavelengths of 250 micrometre to 500 micrometre and a range offrequencies from 16 MHz to 8 MHz on 128 degree Y-cut X-propagating 3inch LiNbO3 wafer, where c=3990 m/s. Ten pairs of fingers of 15 mm inlength were used. The IDTs were patterned using a lift-off process.After pattern transfer into an AZ4562 resist, a 20 nm titanium adhesionlayer was evaporated prior to deposition of 100 nm of gold. Liftoff wasthen performed in acetone, realizing the IDT. The S-parameter wasmeasured to characterize the IDT and showed a stable response forfrequencies between 8 MHz and 14 MHz (FIG. 23( b) insert).

FIG. 23 a shows a schematic representation of the slanted IDT with thepropagation of the SAW on a lithium niobate wafer for a selected inputfrequency of 13 MHz. Only that part of the IDT that supports theresonance condition is excited, resulting in the propagation of a SAWwith a smaller aperture, when compared with a parallel electrode IDT.Thus, by tuning the frequency, it was possible to control the lateralposition of the excitation wave, as shown theoretically andexperimentally in FIG. 23 b.

FIG. 23 b shows the experimental input frequency needed to actuate adroplet on the surface of the LiNbO₃ wafer, as well as on a coverslipcoupled to the LiNbO₃ wafer, as a function of the position, and thetheoretical calculation of the centre of the SAW pathway. Results forthe lithium niobate wafer are shown using horizontal hatching andresults for the coverslip are shown using vertical hatching. Thetheoretical response is shown using a line. The inset in FIG. 23 b showsthe magnitude of the S-parameter obtained with an Agilent TechnologiesE5071C ENA series network analyzer. An Agilent Technologies MXG AnalogSignal Generator N5181A was used in conjunction with a Mini CircuitsZHL-5W-1, 5-500 MHz amplifier and a 3 A, 24V DC power supply to powerthe SAW device. The wafer was fixed with thermal paste on a heat sink toavoid overheating. The aperture was characterized for each inputfrequency at a power of −12 dBm, by observing the agitation of an arrayof 1 microlitre droplets arranged in front of the IDT. The inventorsthen showed that the same spatial control of the SAW, using theexcitation frequency, can be extended to applications involving the useof a separable substrate coupled to the LiNbO₃ wafer. In this case, anunmodified glass coverslip was used as the separable substrate, and theposition of the SAW on the cover slip at given frequencies was directlycompared with the SAW position on the native lithium niobate wafer (FIG.23 b). It was found that the lateral width of the SAW beam at a givenfrequency on the substrate (coverslip) was larger (16% on average) thanthat directly on the piezoelectric wafer, due to diffraction of the wavein the process of the coupling.

The movable lateral position of the SAW beam using the slanted IDT wasthen used to actuate a microfluidic droplet. The inventors demonstratedthat a tunable IDT can provide SAWs to a droplet to induce rotationalstreaming in the droplet, and thereby centrifuge particles in thedroplet to concentrate them in the centre of the droplet.

The concentration of 10 micrometre polystyrene beads was achieved in 10microlitre water droplets, by locating a droplet a substrate andproviding SAWs to the droplet using a slanted IDT and tuning thefrequency as shown in FIGS. 24( a) and 24(b). The slanted IDT wasfabricated as described above. The droplet was placed directly on thelithium niobate wafer, and contained 3 million beads (Duke ScientificG1000) per millilitre. The droplet was positioned 9 mm from the left ofthe IDT (i.e. 9 mm from the left edge of the IDT as representedschematically in FIG. 24 b). The input frequency was chosen using theresults presented in FIG. 23( b) as guide, so that only part of the droplay in the SAW transmission pathway, thus breaking the symmetry of theacoustic wave.

FIG. 24 a is a micrograph of the droplet before (left image) and after(right image) actuation with the SAW. Due to actuation with the SAW(right image) the beads concentrated in the centre of the droplet.

The direction of the streaming was controlled by tuning the inputfrequency. For example, the SAW excited with a frequency, f1, of 9.6 MHzinteracted with the right side of the droplet inducing an angularmomentum and created an anti-clockwise streaming. For a SAW excitationfrequency of f2 of 11 MHz, the SAW interacted with the left side of thedroplet inducing an angular momentum and created a clockwise flow. Thesetwo opposite directions of rotation were observed when frequencies f1and f2 were applied to the droplet sequentially.

FIG. 24( b) shows schematically the observed anticlockwise and clockwisestreaming induced by SAW for f1 approximately 9.6 MHz and f2approximately 11 MHz, respectively. The corresponding streamingdirection observed in the droplet 40 is indicated by an arrow. In theleft image, the SAW interacts with the right side of the droplet andcreates an anti-clockwise streaming, whilst, in the right image, the SAWinteracts with the left side of the droplet and creates a clockwisestreaming. In the detailed schematic (centre), the overlap arearepresents the surface of the drop interacting with the SAW

The inventors investigated the time taken to concentrate a population ofpolystyrene beads of diameter 10 micrometre in the centre of a 10microlitre droplet positioned at 9 mm from the left of the IDT directlyon the lithium niobate wafer as a function of the input frequency (orthe equivalent lateral position of the SAW emission train). The range offrequencies over which excitation occurs depends upon the size of thedroplet. For example, using the data presented in FIG. 23 b for thedevice described above, it is estimated that for a droplet having adiameter of 3 mm the SAW will interact with the fluid over a range offrequencies between 9 and 11 MHz. This prediction was confirmed by theexperimental results presented in FIG. 24 c, which show thatcentrifugation was only observed at frequencies between 9.2 and 11.0 MHz(the shaded/hatched areas represent frequencies at which nocentrifugation was observed).

FIG. 24 c is a graph showing the time taken to concentrate 10 micrometrebeads in the centre of a 10 microlitre droplet positioned at 9 mm fromthe left of the IDT as a function of the input frequency (equivalent tothe position of the SAW) at −18 dBm. The areas shaded/hatched on thegraph represent frequencies for which no concentration of beads wasobserved. The points on the graph show averaged data from three sets ofmeasurements for frequencies between 9.2 MHz to 11.0 MHz with a step of0.2 MHz, (bars represent the standard deviation from the mean). The datawere obtained from videos (25 images per second) analyzed with TimeSeries Analyzer plug-in in ImageJ software. The curve represents thecalculated area of the interface between the wave and the fluid,estimated geometrically.

For frequencies between 10 MHz and 10.2 MHz, although some vibrationswere observed in the droplet, no streaming occurred because the SAW wassymmetrically transmitted to the droplet (i.e. the SAW distribution wassymmetrical with respect to the centre of the droplet) and,consequently, no angular momentum was generated in the droplet.Furthermore, the time needed to achieve a complete centrifugation ofbeads decreased as the centre of the SAW emission train moved closer tothe centre of the drop (in this case there is an asymmetry that createsthe angular momentum and hence the rotation). Indeed, as the SAWapproaches the centre of the drop, the amount of fluid interacting withthe acoustic wave increases, resulting in more energy being transmittedinto the droplet. In this respect, the curve in FIG. 24 c shows thecalculated area of the interface between the wave and the fluid,determined using the input frequency and its correspondence to thelateral position of the SAW emission train shown in FIG. 23 b.

Far from being limited to particle concentration, slanted IDT give theopportunity to programme multiple functions with a single electrode. Theinventors demonstrated that it is possible to move, merge, mix andcentrifuge a droplet on a glass substrate by tuning the frequency of theinput signal.

A system comprising a slanted IDT transducer arrangement coupled to aglass substrate was used. With reference to FIG. 25, the hydrophilicglass substrate 42 (coverslip) was decorated with silane using standardlithography to produce an area of hydrophobic dots (80 micrometreradius, 200 micrometre pitch) to create a hydrophobic stop 44,delimiting a track for the drops. (These hydrophobic dots are notnecessarily scattering elements within the meaning of the presentinvention—they are not used to influence the SAW, but to influence theinteraction between the droplet and the substrate surface.) A droplet 40of 2 microlitres of hydroxylamine hydrochloride (1.67 mM) and sodiumhydroxide (3.33 mM) (pH 9.0) and a droplet of 2 microlitres of silvernitrate (10 mM) were pipetted onto the substrate as shown in FIG. 25 a.By applying the frequency f3 (11 MHz) at −2 dBm, the left hand droplet(of silver nitrate) was moved towards the centre of the substrate. Uponswitching to the frequency f4 (9.2 MHz), the right hand droplet (sodiumhydroxide and hydroxylamine hydrochloride) was moved towards the centreof the substrate (FIG. 25 b), where it merged with the first droplet(starting the reduction of the silver salt to form colloidal silver). InFIG. 25 c, the frequency f5 (9.6 MHz) was used to apply a SAWasymmetrically to the merged droplet to induce streaming in the droplet,resulting in the mixing of reagents and concentration of the silvercolloid in the centre of the droplet.

It is possible to integrate the on-chip formation of colloids with bothsurface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface enhanced resonanceRaman scattering (SERRS) for sensitive bioanalyte detection. Theinventors have shown that a slanted IDT, in which the lateral positionof the SAW emission train is dependent upon the input frequency, can beused to design complex fluidic functions directly into a chip. Theinventors have demonstrated the potential of this powerful tool tomanipulate droplets and particles within droplets. In contrast to knowntechniques, a clear advantage of this flexible method lies in theability to induce streaming in a droplet in a chosen direction and atany position. Whilst known techniques are also restricted to varying theinput power to control the concentration of particles, the inventorshave demonstrated that it is possible to control the concentration ofparticles in a droplet by shifting the position of the SAW (i.e. movingthe lateral position of the SAW emission train), and hence its region ofinteraction with the droplet. The inventors also demonstrated thatcomplex tasks can be programmed sequentially into a single IDT device,by demonstration that two droplets cab be moved, merged, mixed andcentrifuged on a substrate (in this case a disposable glass substrate).

This latter example shows the flexibility of the platform for basicfluidic operations needed in lab-on-a-chip technologies.

In the field of SAW microfluidics it has been reported that the SAWRayleigh wave, which normally propagates in the piezoelectric wafer, canbe coupled into a disposable superstrate as a Lamb wave, providing aclear route by which ‘lab-on-chip’ technology can be applied to lowcost, point of care diagnostics. In this known configuration, thesurface acoustic excitation in the piezoelectric wafer is usuallycoupled into the superstrate through a thin liquid film interface. Theinventors have now demonstrated a new concept in SAW microfluidics,which combines the use of a separable substrate that is coupled to atransducer arrangement that includes, for example, a slanted finger IDT.In the devices described above, a disposable glass coverslip was used asthe separable substrate. The inventors have provided a powerful methodby which it is possible to handle droplets and particles in aprogrammable fashion, and have demonstrated, for example, dropletmovement, merging and centrifugation, on the same substrate, with onlythe need to change the SAW excitation frequency to achieve a high degreeof functional integration.

The present inventors have demonstrated the use of surface acousticwaves (SAW) to lyse cells and blood in microlitre-sized droplets. Samplepreparation is a key component of “lab-on-chip” systems (LOC). Moreparticularly, cell lysis and blood handling are usually required for awide range of biological assays in diagnostic applications. Recently,chemical-free mechanical methodologies overcame the limitations oftranslating traditional procedures, involving lytic agents andsubsequent washes, on microfluidic platforms, that arose from thedetrimental effects of the chemicals on the molecules to be analysed.However, these new techniques often require external pressure-drivensystems that constrain their integration into standalone LOC systems, orthe use of high energies (heat, electricity or ultrasonication) that maycompromise the molecules. The present invention makes use of theacoustic pressure-fields and liquid streaming induced in a droplet bySAW. Methods according to the present invention carried out onbiological samples resulted in the lysis of above 99.8% of all cells inthe samples. The availability of intracellular material in the resultingsuspension was studied with optical absorbance measurements and wascomparable to a lab-based chemical procedure. The present inventors alsodemonstrated that the necessary conditions for lysis can be achievedusing different SAW platforms, providing multiple routes to integratesample preparation in a complete assay on a microchip.

The present inventors show for the first time that cells in dilutedwhole blood can be lysed mechanically in a small droplet in a matter ofseconds, using surface acoustic waves as the actuation mechanism. Celllysis using acoustic energy was developed previously usingultrasonication (sometimes called ‘sonication’) either through harshcavitation at high energies, or by using beads as crushing support.Proceeding differently here, the present inventors created a specificstructure of pressure waves and shear stresses, both red blood cells andwhite blood cells can be lysed, without cavitation and without theaddition of materials to the sample. The lysis efficiency of method ofthe invention was compared to chemical means by measuring the freehaemoglobin in suspension, while the number of cells remaining aftertreatment showed a 95% lysis, comparable to other mechanical solutions.

Interestingly, lysis was achieved in many configurations of SAWmicrofluidics (FIGS. 26, 27 and 28). Namely, directly on thepiezoelectric transducer (FIG. 26), on an unstructured substrate coupledto the piezoelectric transducer and placed strategically to interactwith the SAW (FIG. 27), and on a substrate comprising a phononic crystaland coupled to the piezoelectric transducer (FIG. 27). Thus, the celllysis method of the invention can be easily integrated with otherfunctionalities in a single SAW system.

FIGS. 26, 27 and 28 show the arrangement of apparatus for use accordingto three respective preferred embodiments of the invention. The top ofeach figure shows a schematic view of the apparatus arrangement. Theremainder of each figure includes four images, which are micrographsextracted from video recordings of blood cells being lysed according toan embodiment of the present invention. Each image shows a 10 microlitredroplet of diluted blood (whole blood dilulted 50 times in PBS). In eachcase, a rotational movement was incurred to the fluid inside the dropletas follows: in the embodiment shown in FIG. 26, using a slanted IDTexited at 11.6 MHz with a power of −9 dBm; in the embodiment shown inFIG. 27, using a substrate coupled to a parallel electrode IDT excitedat 9.61 MHz with a power of −6 dBm and positioned on the side of theaperture of the SAW; and in the embodiment shown in FIG. 28, using asubstrate comprising a phononic crystal, coupled to a parallel electrodeIDT excited at 12.5 MHz with a power of −7 dBm. In the embodiments shownin FIGS. 27 and 28, the substrates were coupled to the SAW on thepiezoelectric transducer by a thin film of deionised water. Thetimescales give an idea of the speed of the lysis, but are not suitablefor direct comparison between different apparatus configurations becauselysis conditions were not optimised. The droplet at the beginning of theexperiment (0 s) is about 4 mm in diameter.

Surface acoustic waves were propagated on a LiNbO₃ piezoelectric wafer.Upon reaching a droplet of liquid on the propagating surface, they arerefracted as pressure waves inside the droplet at a specific angledepending on speed of sound in both materials. By adjusting the powerinput in the device and the surface tensions at the droplet pinningcontact line, different wave amplitudes give rise to differentphenomena, from streaming at low powers to movements, jetting andnebulisation in the high range. These behaviours are the result of thepressure field created in the droplet. Here the inventors made use ofthe pressure distribution inside the liquid when streaming is induced,to create vortexes. In their simplest states, these vortexes are used toconcentrate particles in the centre of the droplet. FIGS. 26, 27 and 28show that blood cells were moved to the centre of the droplet at thebeginning of the actuation (second micrograph from top).

When the power was increased, the conditions of pressures and shearstress at the centre of the vortexes were such that cells were crushedand mechanically disrupted, as shown in FIGS. 26, 27 and 28 (thirdmicrographs from top), resulting in cell lysis. The turbid appearance ofthe droplets at the beginning of the process (top micrographs), due tothe presence of intact blood cells, contrasts with their eventual clearappearance once the cells were lysed (bottom micrographs).

The vortexes used in this study were induced by a concentrationstreaming in the droplet, achieved when the propagating SAW symmetry wasbroken. Although it is not shown in the figures, lysis was also obtainedwhen multiple vortexes were formed in other configurations where the SAWhit the droplet in a more symmetrical manner.

In the above described embodiments, rotational streaming was induced insample droplets by providing a SAW beam, or SAW emission train, to thedroplet asymmetrically. In particular, the SAW beam provided to thedroplet only partially overlapped with the droplet footprint, as shownschematically in FIGS. 26-28.

The notional lateral width of the SAW beam, or SAW emission train,emitted by the transducer is determined by the lateral width of theaperture of the transducer (that part of the transducer which resonatesand produces SAWs). Whist it is understood that the edge of a SAW beamis not sharp (i.e. SAWs may propagate at lateral locations beyond thelateral width of the transducer aperture), as explained below, in thecontext of the present invention a SAW beam, or SAW emission train, isdefined has having a lateral width that corresponds to the lateral widthof the transducer aperture. For parallel electrode IDTs, this widthcorresponds to the lateral extent of overlap between electrode fingers(w, FIG. 6). For slanted electrode IDTs this width corresponds to thelateral with of the resonating part of the transducer, considered abovein relation to the full width at half maximum of the amplitudedistribution laterally across the SAW beam. In this case a SAW beam canbe understood as overlapping with a droplet footprint when the centre ofthe beam overlaps with the droplet foot print. In the context of thepresent invention the provision of a SAW beam that partially overlapswith a droplet footprint encompasses the use of a phononic lattice toscatter a SAW beam such that the droplet receives a distribution of SAWsthat is asymmetrical with respect to the centre of the droplet.

In the above described devices, the interdigitated transducers (IDT's)were designed to emit SAW's in Y cut Lithium Niobate propagating in theZ direction and therefore the emitted SAW beam should bediffractionless. The wavelength of the surface acoustic waves emittedfrom the IDT's were of the order 400 micrometres where the length ofpropagation of the SAW prior to irradiating a droplet was never morethan 75 wavelengths (near field), implying that diffraction and beamsteering losses are not significant even for anisotropic mediums, wherethe direction of propagation is not along a principle axis. Assumingthat the beam amplitude maxima of the emitted SAWs are commensurate withthe IDT aperture then a −3 dB drop off in power would be observed lessthan 5 wavelengths away from the edge of the IDT aperture and byextrapolation 0 dB 10 wavelengths away from the edge of the aperture.Therefore it was possible to generate SAWs of useful power between 10and 0 wavelengths from the edge of the aperture. The useful power isalso be dependent on the amount of power applied to the IDT as this willdirectly influence the power available at the edge zones of the SAWbeam.

FIG. 29( a) shows the lysis efficiencies achieved for diluted wholeblood sample droplets processed on a slanted IDT, using a range ofdroplet volumes and dilution factors. Error bars represent the standarddeviation over three samples. Results shown in FIG. 29( a) attest thevery high rate of cell lysis for most of the conditions tested, above98%, and above 99.8% (±0.4%) for the optimised condition (20 microlitresample at a power of −9 dBm). This compares well with other non-chemicalmethods [M. T. Taylor, P. Belgrader, B. J. Furman, F. Pourahmadi, G. T.A. Kovacs and M. A. Northrup, Lysing Bacterial Spores by Sonicationthrough a Flexible Interface in a Microfluidic System, AnalyticalChemistry 2001, 73, 492-496 and M. T. Taylor, Apparatus and method forrapid disruption of cells or viruses, WO03055976 (Cepheid, Inc.)], andeven chemical methods [J. Siegrist, R. Gorkin, M. Bastien, G. Stewart,R. Peytavi, H. Kido, M. Bergeron and M. Madou, Validation of acentrifugal microfluidic sample lysis and homogenization platform fornucleic acid extraction with clinical samples, Lab on a Chip, 2010, 10,363-371; cut-off for efficient lysis at 99.5%].

The inventors measured the cell lysis efficiencies achieved for dropletshaving different volumes when positioned on a hydrophilic spot having adiameter of 4 mm. FIG. 29( a) shows that when the blood sample dropletvolume was 5 microlitres, if the dilution factor was 1:50 or 1:25 thenthe lysis efficiency was relatively low. The lysis efficiency achievedusing a 5 microlitre droplet of blood diluted 1:25 was 45% (this is notvisible in FIG. 29( a) due to the vertical axis scale used). For dropletvolumes up to 10 microlitres, the droplet was confined to thehydrophilic spot, its edges pinned to the outline of the spot. It isbelieved by the inventors that the observed relationship between dropletvolume and cell lysis efficiency can be explained by vortex creation inthe droplet having a dependency on the contact angle of the droplet withthe substrate surface, since the contact angle of the droplet influencesthe propagation of the pressure wave from the incident SAW. The contactangle of the droplet increased as its volume was increased up to thepoint where the droplet could no longer be bound to the hydrophilic spotby surface tension and spilled out onto the hydrophobic part of thesubstrate surface. For volumes below 5 microlitres, no lysis wasachieved in this particular configuration, although it is believed thatlysis may be achieved using volumes below 5 microlitres by usingalternative configurations (e.g. hydrophilic spot of lower diameter).

The lysis of other cell types was demonstrated by processing both amammalian cell line (HL60 cells, a model for chronic myeloid leukaemia),which is non-adherent and mechanically (i.e. in terms of size, shape anddeformability) closer to white blood cells than red blood cells, andcultured trypanosomes (Trypanosome cyclops, a model for parasite-borninfectious diseases such as sleeping sickness), which is a motileorganism.

The inventors demonstrated that both these cell types can be lysed usingSAW, thus confirming that the method of the invention is generallyapplicable to cells.

FIG. 29( b) shows the lysis achieved for a 15 microlitre droplet of asolution containing either 1 million HL60 cells per millilitre in PBS,or 3 million trypanosomes per millilitre in PBS, processed on a slantedIDT for 10 seconds. Results are expressed as a proportion of live cellsafter processing, expressed relative to an unprocessed control sample(e.g. 100% live cells after processing corresponds to 0% lysisefficiency). The trypanosomes were lysed at lower powers than themammalian cells. At a power of −14 dBm, cells were concentrated in thecentre of the droplet, but there was no significant lysis of HL60 cellsand the majority of trypanosomes did not lyse. At a power of −12 dBm,there was no significant lysis of HL60 cells, and around half of thetypanosomes lysed. At a power of −8 dBm for HL60 cells, and −10 dBm fortrypanosomes, effectively all the cells were lysed (98.3%±1.4% of HL60cells were lysed, and 99.9%±0.14% of trypanosomes were lysed). The lastdata point (0.06%±0.14% live cells) for the trypanosomes is not visiblein FIG. 29( b).

The availability of intracellular material in the droplet solution aftercell lysis on the SAW device was studied by spectroscopy. For bloodsamples, the inventors measured the absorbance of the solutions atdifferent wavelengths to evaluate the presence of haemoglobin (414 nmand 540 nm) as well as total DNA (260 nm) and protein contents (280 nm).Haemoglobin is contained in red blood cells and is the most widely usedmarker of red blood cell lysis. Spectroscopy is used routinely toevaluate haemoglobin levels in plasma as a diagnostic tool forhaemolysis.

FIG. 30( a) shows the levels of haemoglobin in 20 microlitre samples ofblood diluted to various ratios with PBS and lysed using SAW on aslanted IDT at −8 dBm (0.8 W), relative to samples in which cells werelysed chemically with the detergent Triton X-100. For blood:PBS (orblood:PBS+Triton X-100) dilutions of 1:20 and higher (dilution factor<0.05), the samples lysed with SAW are indistinguishable from chemicallylysed samples. For blood:PBS dilutions of 1:10, the lysis efficiency wasconsiderably lower. A similar observation was made for measurements ofnucleic acids or proteins (FIG. 30( b)). The inventors believe that theimproved lysis efficiency observed for higher dilution factors can beexplained by higher sample concentrations impeding the formation of thevortexes required for lysis, because the blood cells formed clustersthat disrupted the flow and prevented efficient streaming. The insertsin FIG. 30( a) show micrographic images captured during the lysisexperiments, where the right insert shows higher blood concentration andcell aggregation (highlighted by ring).

By varying the power of the SAW, it is possible to find conditions wherethe samples are only centrifuged and not lysed. FIG. 30( c) shows thelevels of haemoglobin in 20 microlitre sample of whole blood diluted1:50 in PBS (dilution factor 0.2) and lysed using SAW on a slanted IDTat a range of different powers for 10 seconds. Under these particularconditions, red blood cells did not lyse at powers below −10 dBm. SinceSAWs can be used to manipulate samples containing cells without causingcell lysis, the cell lysis method of the present invention can beintegrated in to a complex sequence of fluidic manipulation in abiological assay.

For example, the cell lysis method of the invention can be integratedinto a sequence of fluid manipulation steps including steps of moving,mixing, centrifuging, selectively concentrating, fractionating (i.e.selective concentration of species according to their size or mass) andnebulising (atomising) a droplet comprising live intact (unlysed) cellsand/or lysed cells. A method comprising a series of steps comprising oneor more droplet manipulation steps and one or more cell lysis steps maybe conveniently performed on a microfluidics apparatus. One or moreanalysis steps may also be included, such as microscopic orspectroscopic analyses. In particular, a droplet comprising lysed cells,or downstream (e.g. fractionated) products of lysed cells, may beatomised to create a plume of atomised sample, which can be captured inion-funnels to provide an innovative interface between low volume (e.g.single cell) biology and mass spectrometry. Analysis steps may includemicroarray-based analysis, for example of intracellular proteins ornucleic acids released from cells lysed according to the presentinvention. Analysis steps may include immunological detection steps(e.g. ELISA), gel electrophoresis, electrochemical detection, PCR orother amplification-based techniques. Such analysis may be of particularuse in point-of-case diagnostic applications (e.g. to detect anintracellular molecule indicative of a pathogenic cell in the sample)and portable biosensors (e.g. to detect an intracellular moleculeindicative of the presence of a biological contaminant or weapon in asample)

The dissipation of acoustic energy in a liquid droplet generates heat,increasing temperature, all the more so with increased viscosities. Inconfigurations where a heat sink was not used (because the substrate wascoupled to the piezoelectric transducer via a coupling medium), thetemperature of blood droplets during the SAW actuation was recordedusing an infrared camera, and confirmed that the lysis observed was notdie to an increase in temperature in the droplet. For a 15 μl sample ofblood diluted 1:50 in PBS, and processed at −9 dBm on a slanted IDT, thetemperature of the sample increased to around 40° C. in 5 s and 50° C.in 10 s, which is already a long timescale for SAW-based lysis (see FIG.26). The temperatures encountered are well below those employed for celllysis [L. C. Waters, S. C. Jacobson, N. Kroutchinina, J. Khandurina, R.S. Foote, and J. M. Ramsey, Microchip Device for Cell Lysis, MultiplexPCR Amplification, and Electrophoretic Sizing, Anal. Chem., 1998, 70(1), 158-162]. These results confirmed that the cell lysis observed wasnot due to an increase in temperature in the droplet.

Further details relating to the preferred embodiments of the method areset out below.

The SAW was propagated on piezoelectric 128° Y-cut X-propagating 3 inchLiNbO₃ wafers. For transmission microscopy, 4 inch double-sided polishedwafers were used. The devices consisted of 20 pairs of electrodes toform an inter-digitated transducer (IDT) with a pitch of 200micrometres, 100 micrometres width, and a 10 millimetre aperture,yielding a frequency of ˜10 MHz for the propagating SAW (measured as9.61 MHz). The transparent slanted electrode IDT contained 20 pairs ofelectrodes, with a pitch from 150 micrometres at the highest frequency(about 13 MHz) and 222.5 micrometres at the highest frequency (about 9MHz) at the lowest, with an aperture of 3 cm. The fingers width variedaccordingly from 75 micrometres to 111 micrometres.

The phononic crystal superstrate comprised a square array (pitch 203micrometres) of circular holes (radius 82 micrometres) in a 470micrometre-thick silicon wafer that scattered the SAW to obtain anasymmetry in the propagating waves. The specific mechanical forcesacting on the cells arose from a rotational streaming in the droplet.

The surface holding the sample droplet was patterned with a hydrophilicspot of 4 mm in diameter, surrounded by a silane (FOTS, Sigma), obtainedby immersing the photoresist-patterned (AZ4562) wafer in a 1.6 mM silanesolution in heptane (Sigma, H9629) for 10 min and dissolving the resistin acetone. This treatment resulted in a contact angle of 107°±0.2°(standard deviation) on silicon and 98°±1.4° on LiNbO³. The hydrophilicspot prevents the droplet from moving at higher powers, but is notessential for lysis.

The temperature of a droplet excited by a SAW can increase drastically,depending on the viscosity of the liquid [J. Kondoh, N. Shimizu, Y.Matsui, S. Shiokawa, Liquid Heating Effects by SAW Streaming on thePiezoelectric Substrate, IEEE transactions on ultrasonics,ferroelectrics, and frequency control, 2005, 52 (10)]. The heatgenerated was dissipated through a metal heat sink on which thepiezoelectric device was pasted with a heat sink compound (RS ComponentsLtd., 554-311). In cases where the full heat dissipation is not possible(for example where the substrate was separable from the piezoelectrictransducer, and coupled to it by a coupling medium), an infrared camera(FLIR i60, FLIR Systems) was used to evaluate the extent of heatincrease on the device. As mentioned, lysis was achieved in differentconfigurations, illustrated in FIGS. 26-28. The IDT was connected to anAgilent Technologies MXG Analog Signal Generator N5181A in conjunctionwith a Mini Circuits ZHL-5W-1, 5-500 MHz amplifier and a 3 A, ±24V DCpower supply. The lysis was observed under a stereomicroscope (Leica MZ12).

When a substrate, either unpatterned or with a phononic lattice, that isseparable from the piezoelectric wafer was used, it was placed on top ofthe piezoelectric wafer and coupled with 2-5 microlitres of water inbetween, yielding water film approximately 50 micrometres thick. Duringexperiments with blood, the wafer was placed in a transparent containerfor safety concern EDTA-chelated human whole blood (O⁺) was obtainedfrom the Glasgow and West of Scotland Blood Transfusion Service andstored at 4° C. until needed. Samples were discarded after a week. HL60cells (ATCC CCL-240, acute promyelocytic leukemia) were maintainedfollowing the supplier's recoomendations, in Dulbecco's RPMI mediasupplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum (FCS) and 5%penicillin-streptomycin, at 37° C. (5% CO₂). Trypanosomes weremaintained at 27° C. in Cunninghams media +20% FCS.

Haemoglobin released from the red blood cells was quantified bymeasuring direct light absorption at 414 nm and 540 nm [E. Eschbach, J.P. Scharsack, U. John, L. K. Medlin, Improved Erythrocyte Lysis Assay inMicrotitre Plates for Sensitive Detection and Efficient Measurement ofHaemolytic Compounds from Ichthyotoxic Algae, J. Appl. Toxicol., 2001,21, 513-519]. Although the standard methodology [Standard F756-08,Standard Practice for Assessment of Hemolytic Properties of Materials,ASTM, March 2009] uses 540 nm as the observation wavelength, itnecessitates the intermediate step of adding a reagent to improve thesignal, which also lyses the cells. In order to avoid the bias of anadditional chemical lysis, a direct measurement was adopted. Totalprotein and DNA contents are reported by the absorbance of the samplesat 260 nm and 280 nm.

A range of blood dilutions was processed on the SAW system. Six samplesof 20 microlitres of each dilution were lysed at the power specified inthe text at −8 dBm (0.8 W) collected (pooled) in an Eppendorf tube anddiluted 5 times to fit in the spectrophotometer cuvette (500microlitres). The extent of lysis was compared to a chemical method. Thediluted blood samples were mixed (1:1 v/v) with a solution of 6% (w/w)Triton X-100 (Sigma, T-9284) in PBS and agitated for 5 min. Finally aplasma sample was prepared by centrifuging the blood at 1000 g for 10min.

All samples were centrifuged at 1000 g for 10 min prior to measurementin the spectrophotometer (Hitachi, U-2000), which was blanked with PBS.The absorbance for the chemically lysed samples is reported aftersubtracting the value for a solution of 3% Triton X-100.

The extent of lysis was also studied by counting the cells remainingintact after the SAW treatment. For experiments measuring lysis of bloodcells (FIG. 29 a) different volumes of diluted blood were processed onthe SAW system with a slanted IDT (11.6 MHz, −9 dBm). After resuspensionof the contents of the droplet, 10 microlitres of the solution washarnessed and inserted into a heamocytometer (Neubauer improved). Theremaining cells were counted and the extent of lysis reported as apercentage with regards to the cell contents of the original solution.Other types of cells were also lysed and the lysis efficiency studied ina similar fashion (FIG. 29 b). HL60 cells at a concentration of 1million cells/ml in PBS, trypanosomes (cyclops) at a concentration of 3million/ml. In these experiments, the extent of lysis was evaluated bydetermining the number of live (non-lysed) cells present at the end ofthe process and expressing it as a percentage of the number of livecells in an control sample that had not been treated with SAWs. Thevalues higher than 100% live cells for HL60 cells treated using lowpowers may be explained by sampling variability and/or evaporation ofthe sample on the chip during treatment concentrating the contents ofthe SAW-treated droplets. Live (unlysed) cells were distinguished fromdead (lysed) cells using Trypan blue.

The preferred embodiments of the invention have been described by way ofexample. Modifications of these embodiments, further embodiments andmodifications thereof will be apparent to the skilled person on readingthis disclosure and as such are within the scope of the presentinvention.

ABBREVIATIONS

ATP Adenosine triphosphate

ADP Adenosine diphosphate

cAMP Cyclic adenosine monoposphate

ELISA Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

IDT Interdigitated transducer (also known as an interdigital transducer)

PBS Phosphate buffered saline

PCR Polymerase chain reaction

SAW Surface acoustic wave

1. A fluidics apparatus for manipulation of at least one fluid sample,the apparatus including a substrate having a substrate surface with asample manipulation zone for location of the fluid sample and atransducer arrangement arranged to provide surface acoustic waves at thesubstrate surface for manipulation of the fluid sample, wherein thesubstrate surface has an arrangement of surface acoustic wave scatteringelements for affecting the transmission, distribution or behaviour ofsurface acoustic waves at the substrate surface.
 2. The apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein the surface acoustic wave scatteringelements have an arrangement based on a periodic arrangement.
 3. Theapparatus according to claim 1 wherein the surface acoustic wavescattering elements are arranged in a scattering zone at the substratesurface, the scattering zone providing in use a different transmission,distribution or behaviour of surface acoustic waves compared with thesample manipulation zone.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 1 whereinthe manipulation of the fluid sample includes one or more of: movementof the sample along the sample manipulation zone; splitting of thesample; combining two or more samples; atomisation of the sample fromthe sample manipulation zone; heating of the sample; concentration ofspecies in the sample; mixing of the sample; sorting fluid samples;sorting particles or cells within fluid samples.
 5. The apparatusaccording to claim 4 wherein the substrate has a series of samplemanipulation zones, in communication with each other, the fluid samplebeing transferrable from one sample manipulation zone to the next. 6.The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the transducer is formed froma piezoelectric material having an arrangement of interdigitatedelectrodes.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the substrateis separable from the transducer.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7wherein the substrate is in the form of a sheet having a first majorsurface and a second major surface, formed substantially parallel witheach other, the first major surface providing the sample manipulationzone and the arrangement of surface acoustic wave scattering elements,the second major surface providing a coupling surface, for coupling withthe transducer in operation.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 8wherein coupling is achieved in use with a liquid coupling medium.
 10. Amethod for manipulating at least one fluid sample using a fluidicsapparatus, the apparatus including a substrate having a substratesurface with a sample manipulation zone in which the fluid sample islocated and further including a transducer arrangement providing surfaceacoustic waves at the substrate surface for manipulation of the fluidsample, wherein the substrate surface has an arrangement of surfaceacoustic wave scattering elements affecting the transmission,distribution or behaviour of surface acoustic waves at the substratesurface.
 11. A fluidics substrate for manipulation of at least one fluidsample, the substrate being couplable with a transducer arrangement forproviding surface acoustic waves at a surface of the substrate formanipulation of the fluid sample, wherein the substrate surface has asample manipulation zone for location of the fluid sample, wherein thesubstrate surface further has an arrangement of surface acoustic wavescattering elements for affecting the transmission, distribution orbehaviour of surface acoustic waves at the substrate surface.
 12. Amethod for lysing a cell, wherein the cell is comprised in a fluidsample contacting a substrate surface, the method comprising providingsurface acoustic waves at the substrate surface, such that the celllyses.
 13. The method according to claim 12, including the step ofinducing rotational streaming in the fluid sample.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 13, wherein said rotational streaming is induced inthe fluid sample by providing the surface acoustic waves at thesubstrate surface asymmetrically with respect to the fluid sample. 15.The method according to claim 12, wherein the power of the surfaceacoustic waves is progressively increased such that it becomessufficiently high to lyse the cell.
 16. The method according to claim12, wherein the surface acoustic waves are provided by a transducerarrangement.
 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the substrateis separable from the transducer arrangement and coupled to thetransducer arrangement by a coupling medium.
 18. The method according toclaim 16, wherein said transducer arrangement provides an emission trainof said surface acoustic waves at the substrate surface, and wherein thefluid sample is located at a fluid sample area which only partlyoverlaps with the emission train of said surface acoustic waves.
 19. Themethod according to claim 16, wherein said transducer arrangement istunable to provide a laterally movable emission train of said surfaceacoustic waves at the substrate surface, and wherein the lateralposition of said emission train of surface acoustic waves is tuned to aposition on the substrate surface to induce rotational streaming in thefluid sample.
 20. The method according to claim 12, wherein thesubstrate surface comprises an arrangement of scattering elementsarranged to scatter the surface acoustic waves into a configuration forinducing rotational streaming in the fluid sample.
 21. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the fluid sample is a droplet.
 22. Themethod according to claim 12, wherein the cell is an animal cell.